Bmp-4 acts as a morphogen in dorsoventral mesoderm patterning in Xenopus.
The marginal zone is a ring of tissue that gives rise to a characteristic dorsoventral pattern of mesoderm in amphibian embryos. Bmp-4 is thought to play an important role in specifying ventral mesodermal fate. Here we show (1) that different doses of Bmp-4 are sufficient to pattern four distinct mesodermal cell types and to pattern gene expression in the early gastrula marginal zone into three domains, (2) that there is a graded requirement for a Bmp signal in mesodermal patterning, and (3) that Bmp-4 has long-range activity which can become graded in the marginal zone by the antagonizing action of noggin. The results argue that Bmp-4 acts as a morphogen in dorsoventral patterning of mesoderm.
Dosch
R
R
Division of Molecular Embryology, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg, Germany.
Gawantka
V
V
Delius
H
H
Blumenstock
C
C
Niehrs
C
C
D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers; D001755:Blastocyst; D055415:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000502:physiology; D004627:Embryonic Induction / Q000235:genetics; D005775:Gastrula / Q000502:physiology; D018628:Gene Dosage; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008648:Mesoderm / Q000502:physiology*; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D051787:Myogenic Regulatory Factor 5; D011506:Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors; D014981:Xenopus / Q000196:embryology*; D029867:Xenopus Proteins; D000099176:Noggin Protein
D015415:Biomarkers; D055415:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D009124:Muscle Proteins; D051787:Myogenic Regulatory Factor 5; D011506:Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors; D029867:Xenopus Proteins; D000099176:Noggin Protein; C497419:Myf5 protein, Xenopus; C525812:bmp4 protein, Xenopus; C099992:ventx2.1 protein, Xenopus