Correlation of wing-leg identity in ectopic FGF-induced chimeric limbs with the differential expression of chick Tbx5 and Tbx4

Development ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Ohuchi ◽  
J. Takeuchi ◽  
H. Yoshioka ◽  
Y. Ishimaru ◽  
K. Ogura ◽  
...  

It has been reported that members of the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family can induce additional limb formation in the flank of chick embryos. The phenotype of the ectopic limb depends on the somite level at which it forms: limbs in the anterior flank resemble wings, whereas those in the posterior flank resemble legs. Ectopic limbs located in the mid-flank appear chimeric, possessing characteristics of both wings and legs; feather buds are present in the anterior halves with scales and claws in the posterior halves. To study the mechanisms underlying the chimerism of these additional limbs, we cloned chick Tbx5 and Tbx4 to use as forelimb and hindlimb markers and examined their expression patterns in FGF-induced limb buds. We found that Tbx5 and Tbx4 were differentially expressed in the anterior and posterior halves of additional limb buds in the mid-flank, respectively, consistent with the chimeric patterns of the integument. A boundary of Tbx5/Tbx4 exists in all ectopic limbs, indicating that the additional limbs are essentially chimeric, although the degree of chimerism is dependent on the position. The boundary of Tbx5/Tbx4 expression is not fixed at a specific position within the interlimb region, but dependent upon where FGF was applied. Since the ectopic expression patterns of Tbx5/Tbx4 in the additional limbs are closely correlated with the patterns of their chimeric phenotypes, it is likely that Tbx5 and Tbx4 expression in the limb bud is involved in determination of the forelimb and hindlimb identities, respectively, in vertebrates.

Development ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 126 (2) ◽  
pp. 409-421
Author(s):  
I. Munoz-Sanjuan ◽  
B.K. Simandl ◽  
J.F. Fallon ◽  
J. Nathans

Members of the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family have been identified as signaling molecules in a variety of developmental processes, including important roles in limb bud initiation, growth and patterning. This paper reports the cloning and characterization of the chicken orthologues of fibroblast growth factor homologous factors-1 and −2 (cFHF-1/cFGF-12 and cFHF-2/cFGF-13, respectively). We also describe the identification of a novel, conserved isoform of FHF-2 in chickens and mammals. This isoform arises by alternative splicing of the first exon of the FHF-2 gene and is predicted to encode a polypeptide with a distinct amino-terminus. Whole-mount in situ hybridization reveals restricted domains of expression of cFHF-1 and cFHF-2 in the developing neural tube, peripheral sensory ganglia and limb buds, and shows that the two cFHF-2 transcript isoforms are present in non-overlapping spatial distributions in the neural tube and adjacent structures. In the developing limbs, cFHF-1 is confined to the posterior mesoderm in an area that encompasses the zone of polarizing activity and cFHF-2 is confined to the distal anterior mesoderm in a region that largely overlaps the progress zone. Ectopic cFHF-2 expression is induced adjacent to grafts of cells expressing Sonic Hedgehog and the zone of cFHF-2 expression is expanded in talpid2 embryos. In the absence of the apical ectodermal ridge or in wingless or limbless mutant embryos, expression of cFHF-1 and cFHF-2 is lost from the limb bud. A role for cFHF-2 in the patterning and growth of skeletal elements is implied by the observation that engraftment of developing limb buds with QT6 cells expressing a cFHF-2 isoform that is normally expressed in the limb leads to a variety of morphological defects. Finally, we show that a secreted version of cFHF-2 activates the expression of HoxD13, HoxD11, Fgf-4 and BMP-2 ectopically, consistent with cFHF-2 playing a role in anterior-posterior patterning of the limb.


Development ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 127 (22) ◽  
pp. 4925-4935 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Marin ◽  
P. Charnay

Krox20 and mafB/kr are regulatory genes involved in hindbrain segmentation and anteroposterior (AP) patterning. They are expressed in rhombomeres (r) r3/r5 and r5/r6 respectively, as well as in the r5/r6 neural crest. Since several members of the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family are expressed in the otic/preotic region (r2-r6), we investigated their possible involvement in the regulation of Krox20 and mafB/kr. Application of exogenous FGFs to the neural tube of 4- to 7-somite chick embryos led to ectopic expression in the neural crest of the somitic hindbrain (r7 and r8) and to the extension of the Krox20- or mafB/kr-positive areas in the neuroepithelium. Application of an inhibitor of FGF signalling led to severe and specific downregulation of Krox20 and mafB/kr in the hindbrain neuroepithelium and neural crest. These data indicate that FGFs are involved in the control of regional induction and/or maintenance of Krox20 and mafB/kr expression, thus identifying a novel function for these factors in hindbrain development, besides their proposed more general role in early neural caudalisation.


Development ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 115 (2) ◽  
pp. 629-637 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.N. Coelho ◽  
W.B. Upholt ◽  
R.A. Kosher

During early stages of normal chick limb development, the homeobox-containing (HOX) gene GHox-4.6 is expressed throughout the posterior mesoderm of the wing bud from which most of the skeletal elements including the digits will develop, whereas GHox-8 is expressed in the anterior limb bud mesoderm which will not give rise to skeletal elements. In the present study, we have examined the expression of GHox-4.6 and GHox-8 in the wing buds of two polydactylous mutant chick embryos, diplopodia-5 and talpid2, from which supernumerary digits develop from anterior limb mesoderm, and have also examined the expression of these genes in response to polarizing zone grafts and retinoic acid-coated bead implants which induce the formation of supernumerary digits from anterior limb mesoderm. We have found that the formation of supernumerary digits from the anterior mesoderm in mutant and experimentally induced polydactylous limb buds is preceded by the ectopic expression of GHox-4.6 in the anterior mesoderm and the coincident suppression of GHox-8 expression in the anterior mesoderm. These observations suggest that the anterior mesoderm of the polydactylous limb buds is “posteriorized” and support the suggestion that GHox-8 and GHox-4.6, respectively, are involved in specifying the anterior non-skeletal and posterior digit-forming regions of the limb bud. Although the anterior mesodermal domain of GHox-8 expression is severely impaired in the mutant and experimentally induced polydactylous limb buds, this gene is expressed by the prolonged, thickened apical ectodermal ridges of the polydactylous limb buds that extend along the distal anterior as well as the distal posterior mesoderm.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Development ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 125 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Hayes ◽  
J.M. Brown ◽  
M.F. Lyon ◽  
G.M. Morriss-Kay

The mouse mutant Doublefoot (Dbf) shows preaxial polydactyly of all four limbs. We have analysed limb development in this mutant with respect to morphogenesis, gene expression patterns and ectopic polarising activity. The results reveal a gain-of-function mutation at a locus that mediates pattern formation in the developing limb. Shh expression is identical with that of wild-type embryos, i.e. there is no ectopic expression. However, mesenchyme from the anterior aspects of Dbf/+ mutant limb buds, when transplanted to the anterior side of chick wing buds, induces duplication of the distal skeletal elements. Mid-distal mesenchymal transplants from early, but not later, Dbf/+ limb buds are also able to induce duplication. This demonstration of polarising activity in the absence of Shh expression identifies the gene at the Dbf locus as a new genetic component of the Shh signalling pathway, which (at least in its mutated form) is able to activate signal transduction independently of Shh. The mutant gene product is sufficient to fulfil the signalling properties of Shh including upregulation of the direct Shh target genes Ptc and Gli, and induction of the downstream target genes Bmp2, Fgf4 and Hoxd13. The expression domains of all these genes extend from their normal posterior domains into the anterior part of the limb bud without being focused on a discrete ectopic site. These observations dissociate polarising activity from Shh gene expression in the Dbf/+ limb bud. We suggest that the product of the normal Dbf gene is a key active constituent of the polarising region, possibly acting in the extracellular compartment.


Development ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 124 (23) ◽  
pp. 4867-4878 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Bellusci ◽  
J. Grindley ◽  
H. Emoto ◽  
N. Itoh ◽  
B.L. Hogan

During mouse lung morphogenesis, the distal mesenchyme regulates the growth and branching of adjacent endoderm. We report here that fibroblast growth factor 10 (Fgf10) is expressed dynamically in the mesenchyme adjacent to the distal buds from the earliest stages of lung development. The temporal and spatial pattern of gene expression suggests that Fgf10 plays a role in directional outgrowth and possibly induction of epithelial buds, and that positive and negative regulators of Fgf10 are produced by the endoderm. In transgenic lungs overexpressing Shh in the endoderm, Fgf10 transcription is reduced, suggesting that high levels of SHH downregulate Fgf10. Addition of FGF10 to embryonic day 11.5 lung tissue (endoderm plus mesenchyme) in Matrigel or collagen gel culture elicits a cyst-like expansion of the endoderm after 24 hours. In Matrigel, but not collagen, this is followed by extensive budding after 48–60 hours. This response involves an increase in the rate of endodermal cell proliferation. The activity of FGF1, FGF7 and FGF10 was also tested directly on isolated endoderm in Matrigel culture. Under these conditions, FGF1 elicits immediate endodermal budding, while FGF7 and FGF10 initially induce expansion of the endoderm. However, within 24 hours, samples treated with FGF10 give rise to multiple buds, while FGF7-treated endoderm never progresses to bud formation, at all concentrations of factor tested. Although exogenous FGF1, FGF7 and FGF10 have overlapping activities in vitro, their in vivo expression patterns are quite distinct in relation to early branching events. We conclude that, during early lung development, localized sources of FGF10 in the mesoderm regulate endoderm proliferation and bud outgrowth.


1994 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 649-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hideyo Ohuchi ◽  
Eiki Koyama ◽  
Fumio Myokai ◽  
Tsutomu Nohno ◽  
Fumio Shiraga ◽  
...  

1997 ◽  
Vol 138 (5) ◽  
pp. 1125-1137 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Makarenkova ◽  
D.L. Becker ◽  
C. Tickle ◽  
A.E. Warner

Pattern in the developing limb depends on signaling by polarizing region mesenchyme cells, which are located at the posterior margin of the bud tip. Here we address the underlying cellular mechanisms. We show in the intact bud that connexin 43 (Cx43) and Cx32 gap junctions are at higher density between distal posterior mesenchyme cells at the tip of the bud than between either distal anterior or proximal mesenchyme cells. These gradients disappear when the apical ectodermal ridge (AER) is removed. Fibroblast growth factor 4 (FGF4) produced by posterior AER cells controls signaling by polarizing cells. We find that FGF4 doubles gap junction density and substantially improves functional coupling between cultured posterior mesenchyme cells. FGF4 has no effect on cultured anterior mesenchyme, suggesting that any effects of FGF4 on responding anterior mesenchyme cells are not mediated by a change in gap junction density or functional communication through gap junctions. In condensing mesenchyme cells, connexin expression is not affected by FGF4. We show that posterior mesenchyme cells maintained in FGF4 under conditions that increase functional coupling maintain polarizing activity at in vivo levels. Without FGF4, polarizing activity is reduced and the signaling mechanism changes. We conclude that FGF4 regulation of cell–cell communication and polarizing signaling are intimately connected.


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