scholarly journals The effect of the zone of polarizing activity (ZPA) on the anterior half of the chick wing bud

Development ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-108
Author(s):  
D.J. Wilson ◽  
J.R. Hinchliffe

Removal of the posterior half of the chick wing bud between stages 17–22 results in failure of the anterior distal tissue to survive and differentiate. This observation has been interpreted in terms of a requirement by the anterior half of a factor supplied by the posterior half of the limb containing the zone of polarizing activity (ZPA). This relationship has been tested by grafting ZPA tissue to the posterior surface of the anterior half after posterior half removal. Grafts made proximally on the cut surface did not significantly improve survival and development, nor did the ZPA prevent the expansion of the cell death in the ANZ beyond its normal boundaries into the distal mesenchyme. However, when grafted distally the ZPA inhibited cell death in the apical mesenchyme and caused the anterior mesenchyme to change its normal prospective fate (radius and digit 2). In all these cases, in addition to digit 2, digit 3 and frequently also digit 4 differentiated. The anterior half went on to develop a full set of digits and zeugopod parts in almost 50% of cases, although no skeleton resulting from this regulation of the anterior half had totally size regulated. These results demonstrate a developmental ‘rescue’ effect by the ZPA, and further support the view that the ZPA has a central and unique function in normal limb bud development, controlling survival and differentiation of the mesenchyme along the anteroposterior axis.

Development ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 107 (4) ◽  
pp. 863-867 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Eichele

Wing buds whose posterior half is excised, develop into wings lacking distal structures. However, such experimentally generated preaxial half wing buds can be rescued by implanting a retinoic-acid-releasing bead at their anterior margin. The polarity of the pattern that originates from preaxial half wing buds is reversed. For example, instead of a 234 digit pattern typical for normal wings, the order of digits is 432. This result implies that retinoic acid has the capacity to reprogram anterior limb bud tissue, and that the resulting change in cell fate does not depend on the presence of posterior tissue regions such as the zone of polarizing activity (ZPA).


Development ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 101 (3) ◽  
pp. 501-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
W.L. Todt ◽  
J.F. Fallon

The ability of the anterior apical ectodermal ridge to promote outgrowth in the chick wing bud when disconnected from posterior apical ridge was examined by rotating the posterior portion of the stage-19/20 to stage-21 wing bud around its anteroposterior axis. This permitted contact between the anterior and posterior mesoderm, without removing wing bud tissue. In a small but significant number of cases (10/54), anterior structures (digit 2) formed spatially isolated from posterior structures (digits 3 and 4). Thus, continuity with posterior ridge is not a prerequisite for anterior-ridge function in the wing bud. Nevertheless, posterior-ridge removal does result in anterior limb truncation. To investigate events leading to anterior truncation, we examined cell death patterns in the wing bud following posterior-ridge removal. We observed an abnormal area of necrosis along the posterior border of the wing bud at 6–12 h following posterior-ridge removal. This was followed by necrosis in the distal, anterior mesoderm at 48 h postoperatively and subsequent anterior truncation. Clearly, healthy posterior limb bud mesoderm is needed for anterior limb bud survival and development. We propose that anterior truncation is the direct result of anterior mesodermal cell death and that this may not be related to positional specification of anterior cells. In our view, cell death of anterior mesoderm, after posterior mesoderm removal, should not be used as evidence for a role in position specification by the polarizing zone during the limb bud stages of development. We suggest that the posterior mesoderm that maintains the anterior mesoderm need not be restricted to the mapped polarizing zone, but is more extensively distributed in the limb bud.


Development ◽  
1977 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Dennis Summerbell

Removal of the apical ectodermal ridge causes a reduction in the rate of outgrowth of the wing-bud and the loss of distal parts. More specifically it causes a short-term increase in cell density and cell death and a decrease in the rate of cell proliferation. The evidence supports the hypothesis of density-dependent control of cell division and suggests that there may also be a mechanism regulating skeletal length at the time of differentiation. An informal model is presented to explain the observations.


Development ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 122 (5) ◽  
pp. 1385-1394 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.A. Helms ◽  
C.H. Kim ◽  
G. Eichele ◽  
C. Thaller

In the chick limb bud, the zone of polarizing activity controls limb patterning along the anteroposterior and proximodistal axes. Since retinoic acid can induce ectopic polarizing activity, we examined whether this molecule plays a role in the establishment of the endogenous zone of polarizing activity. Grafts of wing bud mesenchyme treated with physiologic doses of retinoic acid had weak polarizing activity but inclusion of a retinoic acid-exposed apical ectodermal ridge or of prospective wing bud ectoderm evoked strong polarizing activity. Likewise, polarizing activity of prospective wing mesenchyme was markedly enhanced by co-grafting either a retinoic acid-exposed apical ectodermal ridge or ectoderm from the wing region. This equivalence of ectoderm-mesenchyme interactions required for the establishment of polarizing activity in retinoic acid-treated wing buds and in prospective wing tissue, suggests a role of retinoic acid in the establishment of the zone of polarizing activity. We found that prospective wing bud tissue is a high-point of retinoic acid synthesis. Furthermore, retinoid receptor-specific antagonists blocked limb morphogenesis and down-regulated a polarizing signal, sonic hedgehog. Limb agenesis was reversed when antagonist-exposed wing buds were treated with retinoic acid. Our results demonstrate a role of retinoic acid in the establishment of the endogenous zone of polarizing activity.


Development ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 120 (11) ◽  
pp. 3267-3274 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Helms ◽  
C. Thaller ◽  
G. Eichele

Local application of all-trans-retinoic acid (RA) to the anterior margin of chick limb buds results in pattern duplications reminescent of those that develop after grafting cells from the zone of polarizing activity (ZPA). RA may act directly by conferring positional information to limb bud cells, or it may act indirectly by creating a polarizing region in the tissue distal to the RA source. Here we demonstrate that tissue distal to an RA-releasing bead acquires polarizing activity in a dose-dependent manner. Treatments with pharmacological (beads soaked in 330 micrograms/ml) and physiological (beads soaked in 10 micrograms/ml) doses of RA are equally capable of inducing digit pattern duplication. Additionally, both treatments induce sonic hedgehog (shh; also known as vertebrate hedgehog-1, vhh-1), a putative ZPA morphogen and Hoxd-11, a gene induced by the polarizing signal. However, tissue transplantation assays reveal that pharmacological, but not physiological, doses create a polarizing region. This differential response could be explained if physiological doses induced less shh than pharmacological doses. However, our in situ hybridization analyses demonstrate that both treatments result in similar amounts of mRNA encoding this candidate ZPA morphogen. We outline a model describing the apparently disparate effects of pharmacologic and physiological doses RA on limb bud tissue.


Development ◽  
1981 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-82
Author(s):  
J. R. Hinchliffe ◽  
M. Gumpel-Pinot

If the posterior half of the chick wing bud (stages 17–22) is excised, the anterior half which normally forms humerus (part), radius and digit 2, forms only a single skeletal element, either humerus or humerus fused with reduced radius. Beginning at 18 h after operation, and continuing to 48 h the anterior and distal mesenchyme in such anterior halves becomes necrotic and the AER regresses. By contrast, if the anterior half of the chick wing bud (stages 17–22) is excised, the posterior half develops as in the normal bud, and forms humerus (part), ulna and digits 3, 4 and 5. Such posterior halves develop no more mesenchymal necrosis than the normal contralateral wing buds and the AER remains healthy. Further, if the excision of the posterior part is made in such a way as to leave in place a part of the zone of polarising activity (ZPA), a normal wing with complete skeleton is formed. Thus in order to survive and differentiate, the anterior part of the wing bud needs a factor supplied by the posterior part containing the ZPA. These results support the view that the ZPA plays a role in controlling the anteroposterior differentiation of the normal wing bud


Development ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-125
Author(s):  
Madeleine Gumpel-Pinot ◽  
D. A. Ede ◽  
O. P. Flint

Fragments of quail wing bud containing myogenic cells of somitic origin and fragments of quail sphlanchopleural tissue were introduced into the interior of the wing bud of fowl embryo hosts. No movement of graft into host tissue occurred in the control, but myogenic cells from the quail wing bud fragments underwent long migrations in an apical direction to become incorporated in the developing musculature of the host. When the apical ectodermal ridge (AER), together with some subridge mesenchyme, was removed at the time of grafting, no such cell migration occurred. The capacity of grafted myogenic cells to migrate in the presence of AER persists to H.H. stage 25, when myogenesis has begun, but premyogenic cells in the somites, which normally migrate out into the early limb bud, do not migrate when somite fragments are grafted into the wing bud. Coelomic grafts of apical and proximal wing fragments showed that apical sections of quail wing buds become invaded by myogenic cells of the host, but grafts from proximal wing bud regions do not.


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)


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