title: Noggin 1 overexpression in retinal progenitors affects bipolar cell generation.
abstract: Waves of Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMPs) and their antagonists are present during initial eye development, but their possible roles in retinogenesis are still unknown. We have recently shown that noggin 1, a BMP antagonist, renders pluripotent cells able to differentiate into retinal precursors, and might be involved in the maintenance of retinal structures in the adult vertebrate eye. Here, we report that noggin 1, differently from noggin 2 and noggin 4, is expressed during all phases of Xenopus laevis retinal development. Gain-of-function experiments by electroporation in the optic vesicle show that overexpression of noggin 1 significantly decreases the number of bipolar cells in the inner nuclear layer of the retina, without significantly affecting the generation of the other retinal cell types. Our data suggest that BMP signaling could be involved in the differentiation of retinal progenitors into specific retinal subtypes during late phases of vertebrate retinal development.
authors.affiliation: Developmental Neurobiology Laboratory, CIBIO, University of Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Messina
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bridi
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bozza
authors.forename: Yuri
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bozzi
authors.forename: Marie-Laure
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Baudet
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Casarosa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012160:Retina / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism*; D055351:Retinal Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D029867:Xenopus Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014982:Xenopus laevis; D000099176:Noggin Protein
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D029867:Xenopus Proteins; D000099176:Noggin Protein; C576650:NOG2 protein, Xenopus; C000613514:Noggin4 protein, Xenopus laevis