Isolation of Sna, a mouse gene homologous to the Drosophila genes snail and escargot: its expression pattern suggests multiple roles during postimplantation development

Development ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 116 (4) ◽  
pp. 1033-1039 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.E. Smith ◽  
F. Franco del Amo ◽  
T. Gridley
Keyword(s):  
Neural Crest ◽  
Zinc Finger ◽  
Zinc Finger Protein ◽  
Mouse Gene ◽  
Multiple Roles ◽  
Limb Bud ◽  
Germ Layer ◽  
Drosophila Gene ◽  
Finger Protein ◽  
Mesoderm Formation

The Drosophila gene snail encodes a zinc-finger protein that is required zygotically for mesoderm formation. Snail acts as a transcriptional repressor during the period of mesoderm formation by preventing expression of mesectodermal and ectodermal genes in the mesoderm anlage. A Xenopus homolog (xsnail) of snail has been cloned and it too is expressed early in the mesodermal germ layer. We have isolated cDNA clones of a mouse gene (termed Sna) closely related to snail and xsnail and another Drosophila gene termed escargot that also encodes a zinc-finger protein. Sna encodes a 264 amino acid protein that contains four zinc fingers. Developmental RNA blot analysis showed that Sna transcripts are expressed throughout postimplantation development. Analysis of the spatial and temporal localization of Sna transcripts by in situ hybridization to both whole-mount and sectioned embryos revealed that, in the gastrulating embryo, Sna is expressed throughout the primitive streak and in the entire mesodermal germ layer. By 9.5 days post coitum (dpc) Sna is expressed at high levels in cephalic neural crest and limb bud mesenchyme. In fact, by 10.5 dpc Sna expression is observed in most mesenchymal cells, whether of neural crest or mesodermal origin. Later in gestation, high levels of Sna expression are observed in condensing cartilage and in the mesenchymal component of several tissues (lung, kidney, teeth and vibrissae) that undergo epithelial-mesenchymal inductive interactions during development. These results suggest multiple roles for the Sna gene in gastrulation and organogenesis during murine development.

scholarly journals A Krüppel-Associated Box-Zinc Finger Protein, NT2, Represses Cell-Type-Specific Promoter Activity of the α2(XI) Collagen Gene

2002 ◽  
Vol 22 (12) ◽  
pp. 4256-4267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuhiro Tanaka ◽  
Noriyuki Tsumaki ◽  
Christine A. Kozak ◽  
Yoshihiro Matsumoto ◽  
Fumihiko Nakatani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Zinc Finger ◽  
Promoter Activity ◽  
Expression Vector ◽  
Zinc Finger Protein ◽  
Zinc Finger Proteins ◽  
Limb Bud ◽  
Collagen Gene ◽  
Specific Expression ◽  
Finger Protein ◽  
Krab Domain

ABSTRACT Type XI collagen is composed of three chains, α1(XI), α2(XI), and α3(XI), and plays a critical role in the formation of cartilage collagen fibrils and in skeletal morphogenesis. It was previously reported that the −530-bp promoter segment of the α2(XI) collagen gene (Col11a2) was sufficient for cartilage-specific expression and that a 24-bp sequence from this segment was able to switch promoter activity from neural tissues to cartilage in transgenic mice when this sequence was placed in the heterologous neurofilament light gene (NFL) promoter. To identify a protein factor that bound to the 24-bp sequence of the Col11a2 promoter, we screened a mouse limb bud cDNA expression library in the yeast one-hybrid screening system and obtained the cDNA clone NT2. Sequence analysis revealed that NT2 is a zinc finger protein consisting of a Krüppel-associated box (KRAB) and is a homologue of human FPM315, which was previously isolated by random cloning and sequencing. The KRAB domain has been found in a number of zinc finger proteins and implicated as a transcriptional repression domain, although few target genes for KRAB-containing zinc finger proteins has been identified. Here, we demonstrate that NT2 functions as a negative regulator of Col11a2. In situ hybridization analysis of developing mouse cartilage showed that NT2 mRNA is highly expressed by hypertrophic chondrocytes but is minimally expressed by resting and proliferating chondrocytes, in an inverse correlation with the expression patterns of Col11a2. Gel shift assays showed that NT2 bound a specific sequence within the 24-bp site of the Col11a2 promoter. We found that Col11a2 promoter activity was inhibited by transfection of the NT2 expression vector in RSC cells, a chondrosarcoma cell line. The expression vector for mutant NT2 lacking the KRAB domain failed to inhibit Col11a2 promoter activity. These results demonstrate that KRAB-zinc finger protein NT2 inhibits transcription of its physiological target gene, suggesting a novel regulatory mechanism of cartilage-specific expression of Col11a2.

Opl: a zinc finger protein that regulates neural determination and patterning in Xenopus

Development ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 125 (15) ◽  
pp. 2867-2882 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.S. Kuo ◽  
M. Patel ◽  
J. Gamse ◽  
C. Merzdorf ◽  
X. Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neural Crest ◽  
Zinc Finger ◽  
Neural Tube ◽  
Zinc Finger Protein ◽  
Neural Patterning ◽  
Dorsal Neural Tube ◽  
Finger Protein ◽  
Pair Rule Gene ◽  
Carboxy Terminal ◽  
Pair Rule

In order to study the mechanism of neural patterning in Xenopus, we used subtractive cloning to isolate genes activated early during this process. One gene isolated was opl, (odd-paired-like) that resembles the Drosophila pair-rule gene odd-paired and encodes a zinc finger protein that is a member of the Zic gene family. At the onset of gastrulation, opl is expressed throughout the presumptive neural plate, indicating that neural determination has begun at this stage while, by neurula, opl expression is restricted to the dorsal neural tube and neural crest. opl encodes a transcriptional activator, with a carboxy terminal regulatory domain, which when removed increases opl activity. opl both sensitizes animal cap ectoderm to the neural inducer noggin and alters the spectrum of genes induced by noggin, allowing activation of the midbrain marker engrailed. Consistent with the later dorsal neural expression of opl, the activated form of opl is able to induce neural crest and dorsal neural tube markers both in animal caps and whole embryos. In ventral ectoderm, opl induces formation of loose cell aggregates that may indicate neural crest precursor cells. Aggregates do not express an epidermal marker, indicating that opl suppresses ventral fates. Together, these data suggest that opl may mediate neural competence and may be involved in activation of midbrain, dorsal neural and neural crest fates.

scholarly journals Dissecting CNBP, a Zinc-Finger Protein Required for Neural Crest Development, in Its Structural and Functional Domains

2008 ◽  
Vol 382 (4) ◽  
pp. 1043-1056 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Armas ◽  
Tristán H. Agüero ◽  
Mariana Borgognone ◽  
Manuel J. Aybar ◽  
Nora B. Calcaterra
Keyword(s):  
Neural Crest ◽  
Zinc Finger ◽  
Zinc Finger Protein ◽  
Functional Domains ◽  
Neural Crest Development ◽  
Finger Protein

Sp1/egr-like zinc-finger protein required for endoderm specification and germ-layer formation in Drosophila

Nature ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 369 (6482) ◽  
pp. 664-668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Günter Brönner ◽  
Quynh Chu-LaGraff ◽  
Chris Q. Doe ◽  
Barbara Cohen ◽  
Detlef Weigel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Zinc Finger ◽  
Zinc Finger Protein ◽  
Germ Layer ◽  
Layer Formation ◽  
Finger Protein ◽  
Germ Layer Formation
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