Mechanisms underlying long- and short-range nodal signaling in Zebrafish.
Precise regulation of the signaling range of secreted molecules is essential for proper pattern formation during development. The Nodal family of TGF-beta proteins has been shown to function as both short- and long-range signals. But the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. In this study, we investigated the regulation of the signaling range of zebrafish Nodal proteins Cyclops and Squint, which are short- and long-range signals, respectively. We show that (1) the stability of Cyclops and Squint correlates with the activity range but increasing the stability of the short-range Cyclops does not increase its signaling range; (2) structural differences in the N-terminus region of the mature peptides of Cyclops and Squint determine their differences in the signaling range and swapping the N-terminus region of the Squint mature ligand into that of Cyclops makes the latter function at a distance.
Jing
Xiao-hong
XH
Department of Developmental and Molecular Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
Zhou
Sheng-mei
SM
Wang
Wei-qing
WQ
Chen
Yu
Y
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D055458:Left-Right Determination Factors; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D055456:Nodal Signaling Ligands; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D015398:Signal Transduction; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism*; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D055458:Left-Right Determination Factors; D055456:Nodal Signaling Ligands; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; C485171:ndr1 protein, zebrafish; C512832:ndr2 protein, zebrafish; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins