title: Xenopus Dbx2 is involved in primary neurogenesis and early neural plate patterning.
abstract: The evolutionarily conserved Dbx homeodomain-containing proteins play important roles in the development of vertebrate central nervous system. In mouse, Dbx and Nkx6 have been suggested to be cross-repressive partners involved in the patterning of ventral neural tube. Here, we have isolated Xenopus Dbx2 and studied its developmental expression and function during neural development. Like XDbx1, from mid-neurula stage on, XDbx2 is expressed in stripes between the primary motoneurons and interneurons. At the tailbud stages, it is detected in the middle region of the neural tube. XDbx2 acts as a transcriptional repressor in vitro and over-expression of XDbx2 inhibits primary neurogenesis in Xenopus embryos. Over-expression of XDbx genes represses the expression of XNkx6.2 and vise versa. Knockdown of either XDbx1, XDbx2 or both by specific morpholinos induces lateral expansion of XNkx6.2 expression domains. These data reveal conserved roles for Dbx in primary neurogenesis and dorsoventral neural patterning in Xenopus.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China.
authors.forename: Pengcheng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Shuhua
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Wanli
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Qiutan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Chaocui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xiaoyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Bingyu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mao
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D054258:Neural Plate / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D055495:Neurogenesis; D010802:Phylogeny; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D029867:Xenopus Proteins / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014982:Xenopus laevis / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C561721:Dbx2 protein, Xenopus; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D029867:Xenopus Proteins