The mouse frizzled 8 receptor is expressed in anterior organizer tissues.
Wnt signaling has been shown to be important for axis formation in vertebrates. However, no Wnt ligand or receptor has been shown to be specifically expressed in all the organizer tissues in the mouse embryo. Here we report that the mouse frizzled 8 (mfz8) gene, a Wnt receptor, is expressed in the anterior visceral endoderm (AVE) and the anterior primitive streak, which have been shown to possess organizer activity. mFz8 is also expressed in the descendents of the anterior streak that comprise the anterior mesendoderm (AME) at midgastrulation, with subsequent expression in the anterior neurectoderm, which is specified and patterned by the AVE and AME. Thus, mfz8 is specifically expressed in the organizer tissues that establish the anterior-posterior axis in the mouse embryo.
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Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Robertson
E J
EJ
Brennan
J
J
D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D004707:Endoderm / Q000378:metabolism*; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D005775:Gastrula / Q000378:metabolism*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D051379:Mice / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D029867:Xenopus Proteins / Q000235:genetics
D018076:DNA, Complementary; C113865:FZD8 protein, Xenopus; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D029867:Xenopus Proteins