title: Midkine counteracts the activin signal in mesoderm induction and promotes neural formation.
abstract: Midkine (MK) is a heparin-binding growth factor that has been implicated in neural survival and differentiation, fibrinolysis, and carcinogenesis. It is expressed in the nervous system during early Xenopus development. In the present study, we demonstrated that injection of vegetal blastomeres with Xenopus MK at the 8-cell stage results in incomplete invagination. In the case of dorsal vegetal injection, hypertrophic neural tissue is produced. Animal caps isolated from embryos that have been injected with Xenopus MK and cultured with activin do not elongate, and all mesoderm markers examined, including both head and trunk/tail ones, are greatly diminished. In contrast, head-specific neural markers, XANF-1 and Xotx2, are induced, while trunk/tail neural markers, XlHbox6 and F-spondin, are decreased. Moreover, MK showes the same effects in animal caps injected with Xenopus Smad2 mRNA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, The University of Tokyo.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yokota
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eisaki
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Asashima
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Akhter
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Muramatsu
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kadomatsu
mesh_terms: D028341:Activins; D000818:Animals; D001757:Blastomeres / Q000187:drug effects; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D016207:Cytokines; D004627:Embryonic Induction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D006133:Growth Substances / Q000502:physiology*; D007265:Inhibins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000502:physiology*; D008648:Mesoderm / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D000078792:Midkine; D009420:Nervous System / Q000196:embryology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D014982:Xenopus laevis
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D016207:Cytokines; D006133:Growth Substances; D028341:Activins; D000078792:Midkine; D007265:Inhibins