title: The posterior neural plate in axolotl gives rise to neural tube or turns anteriorly to form somites of the tail and posterior trunk.
abstract: Classical grafting experiments in the Mexican axolotl had shown that the posterior neural plate of the neurula is no specified neuroectoderm but gives rise to somites of the tail and posterior trunk. The bipotentiality of this region with neuromesodermal progenitor cell populations was revealed more recently also in zebrafish, chick, and mouse. We reinvestigated the potency of the posterior plate in axolotl using grafts from transgenic embryos, immunohistochemistry, and in situ hybridization. The posterior plate is brachyury-positive except for its more anterior parts which express sox2. Between anterior and posterior regions of the posterior plate a small domain with sox2+ and bra+ cells exists. Lineage analysis of grafted GFP-labeled posterior plate tissue revealed that posterior GFP+ cells move from dorsal to ventral, form the posterior wall, turn anterior bilaterally, and join the gastrulated paraxial presomitic mesoderm. More anterior sox2+/GFP+ cells, however, are integrated into the developing spinal cord. Tail notochord is formed from axial mesoderm involuted already during gastrulation. Thus the posterior neural plate is a postgastrula source of paraxial mesoderm, which performs an anterior turn, a novel morphogenetic movement. More anterior plate cells, in contrast, do not turn anteriorly but become specified to form tail spinal cord.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany; Center for Regenerative Therapies, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 105, 01307 Dresden, Germany; Research Institute for Molecular Pathology (IMP), Campus-Vienna-Biocenter 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Yuka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.affiliation: Center for Regenerative Therapies, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 105, 01307 Dresden, Germany. Electronic address: thomas.kurth@crt-dresden.de.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kurth
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology Center, BIOTEC, Technische Universität Dresden, Tatzberg 47/49, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weiche
authors.affiliation: Center for Regenerative Therapies, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 105, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Saskia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Reichelt
authors.affiliation: Center for Regenerative Therapies, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 105, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tazaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Srikanth
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Perike
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Verena
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kappert
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany; Center for Regenerative Therapies, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 105, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans-Henning
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Epperlein
mesh_terms: D000558:Ambystoma mexicanum / Q000196:embryology*; D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005326:Fetal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D054262:Gastrulation / Q000502:physiology; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008648:Mesoderm / Q000196:embryology*; D054258:Neural Plate / Q000196:embryology*; D054259:Neural Tube / Q000196:embryology*; D009672:Notochord / Q000196:embryology; D055748:SOXB1 Transcription Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis; D019170:Somites / Q000196:embryology; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000196:embryology*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology; D020825:T-Box Domain Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D013623:Tail / Q000196:embryology*; D000098908:Brachyury Protein
chemical_list: D005326:Fetal Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D055748:SOXB1 Transcription Factors; D020825:T-Box Domain Proteins; D000098908:Brachyury Protein
keywords: Anterior turn; Axolotl; Chordoneural hinge; Germ layer determination; Neural plate grafting; Posterior wall; Tailbud