title: Wnt antagonism initiates cardiogenesis in Xenopus laevis.
abstract: Heart induction in Xenopus occurs in paired regions of the dorsoanterior mesoderm in response to signals from the Spemann organizer and underlying dorsoanterior endoderm. These tissues together are sufficient to induce heart formation in noncardiogenic ventral marginal zone mesoderm. Similarly, in avians the underlying definitive endoderm induces cardiogenesis in precardiac mesoderm. Heart-inducing factors in amphibians are not known, and although certain BMPs and FGFs can mimic aspects of cardiogenesis in avians, neither can induce the full range of activities elicited by the inducing tissues. Here we report that the Wnt antagonists Dkk-1 and Crescent can induce heart formation in explants of ventral marginal zone mesoderm. Other Wnt antagonists, including the frizzled domain-containing proteins Frzb and Szl, lacked this activity. Unlike Wnt antagonism, inhibition of BMP signaling did not promote cardiogenesis. Ectopic expression of GSK3beta, which inhibits beta-catenin-mediated Wnt signaling, also induced cardiogenesis in ventral mesoderm. Analysis of Wnt proteins expressed during gastrulation revealed that Wnt3A and Wnt8, but not Wnt5A or Wnt11, inhibited endogenous heart induction. These results indicate that diffusion of Dkk-1 and Crescent from the organizer initiate cardiogenesis in adjacent mesoderm by establishing a zone of low Wnt3A and Wnt8 activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors.forename: V A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mercola
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D015870:Gene Expression; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology; D006321:Heart / Q000196:embryology*; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008648:Mesoderm / Q000502:physiology*; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D051153:Wnt Proteins; D029867:Xenopus Proteins; D014982:Xenopus laevis / Q000196:embryology; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; D000099176:Noggin Protein; D000099274:Frizzled-Related Proteins
chemical_list: D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D006023:Glycoproteins; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D011506:Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D051153:Wnt Proteins; D029867:Xenopus Proteins; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; D000099176:Noggin Protein; D000099274:Frizzled-Related Proteins; C110182:dkk1 protein, Xenopus; C501128:dkk1b protein, zebrafish; C491629:frzb2 protein, Xenopus; C495248:wnt8a protein, Xenopus; C054234:chordin