title: Xwnt-2 (Xwnt-2b) is maternally expressed in Xenopus oocytes and embryos.
abstract: Xwnt-2 (formerly Xwnt-2b) is a member of the Xwnt-8 class of axis-inducing Wnts. Its zygotic expression is at the prosencephalic-mesencephalic border of the early tadpole brain and above the heart primordium [Mech. Dev. 63 (1997) 199]. Here, we report that Xwnt-2 has an earlier, maternal pattern of expression. It is detected in the oocyte, egg and the developing embryo. Studies of the spatial localization of maternal Xwnt-2 show transcripts in both vegetal and animal blastomeres with enrichment in the animal hemisphere. The identification of maternal Xwnt-2 raises questions about possible roles of dorsalizing Xwnts in axial patterning of the Xenopus embryo.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02115, USA. yosef.landesman@gpc-biotech.com
authors.forename: Yosef
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Landesman
authors.forename: Daniel A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Goodenough
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Paul
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009865:Oocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D012313:RNA / Q000378:metabolism; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D051154:Wnt2 Protein; D029867:Xenopus Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014982:Xenopus laevis / Q000196:embryology* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D006023:Glycoproteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; C108002:WNT2B protein, Xenopus; D051154:Wnt2 Protein; D029867:Xenopus Proteins; D012313:RNA