title: Roles of hesC and gcm in echinoid larval mesenchyme cell development.
abstract: To understand the roles of hesC and gcm during larval mesenchyme specification and differentiation in echinoids, we performed perturbation experiments for these genes in two distantly related euechinoids, Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus and Scaphechinus mirabilis. The number of larval mesenchyme cells increased when the translation of hesC was inhibited, thereby suggesting that hesC has a general role in larval mesenchyme development. We confirmed previous results by demonstrating that gcm is involved in pigment cell differentiation. Simultaneous inhibition of the translation of hesC and gcm induced a significant increase in the number of skeletogenic cells, which suggests that gcm functions in skeletogenic fate repression. Based on these observations, we suggest that: (i) hesC participates in some general aspects of mesenchymal cell development; and (ii) gcm is involved in the mechanism responsible for the binary specification of skeletogenic and pigment cell fates.
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Marine Biology, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, 9 Sakamoto, Asamushi, Aomori, Aomori, 039-3501, Japan.
authors.forename: Atsuko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yamazaki
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Marine Biology, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, 9 Sakamoto, Asamushi, Aomori, Aomori, 039-3501, Japan.
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Minokawa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D036703:Blastula / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics*; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D007814:Larva / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D008648:Mesoderm / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D009024:Morphogenesis / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012617:Sea Urchins / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D012863:Skeleton / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus; Scaphechinus mirabilis; double negative gate; gene regulatory network; mesoderm