Characterization of cis-regulatory elements of the homeobox gene Xanf-1

Investigation of molecular mechanisms underlying early patterning of the nervous system is an important task of modern developmental biology. Previously, we identified a novel homeobox gene, Anf, that is expressed in the most anterior zone at the beginning of neuroectoderm specification. The expression pattern of Anf corresponds to primordia of the telencephalon and the rostral part of the diencephalon. In the present work, we investigated cis-regulation of expression of the Xenopus laevis Anf, Xanf-1. Two elements, highly conserved in Xenopus, chick and human, were identified within the Xanf-1 promoter region. The first element, located near position -500, is necessary for overall enhancement of the Xanf-1 expression. The second element, near position -200, is crucial for maintenance of the Xanf-1 expression at moderate levels and also for specific localization of the expression in the anterior neuroectoderm. Thus, the distal part of this element is responsible for suppression of Xanf-1 posterior to the normal expression domain of this gene. The data obtained corroborate with the Nieuwkoop two-signal model of neural induction. This model states that at the first step of induction, all neuroectoderm acquires potencies to develop toward forebrain structures, but later these potencies are suppressed in posterior regions.     

Neural crests are actively precluded from the anterior neural fold by a novel inhibitory mechanism dependent on Dickkopf1 secreted by the prechordal mesoderm

It is known the interactions between the neural plate and epidermis generate neural crest (NC), but it is unknown why the NC develops only at the lateral border of the neural plate and not in the anterior fold. Using grafting experiments we show that there is a previously unidentified mechanism that precludes NC from the anterior region. We identify prechordal mesoderm as the tissue that inhibits NC in the anterior territory and show that the Wnt/beta-catenin antagonist Dkk1, secreted by this tissue, is sufficient to mimic this NC inhibition. We show that Dkk1 is required for preventing the formation of NC in the anterior neural folds as loss-of-function experiments using a Dkk1 blocking antibody in Xenopus as well as the analysis of Dkk1-null mouse embryos transform the anterior neural fold into NC. This can be mimicked by Wnt/beta-catenin signaling activation without affecting the anterior posterior patterning of the neural plate, or placodal specification. Finally, we show that the NC cells induced at the anterior neural fold are able to migrate and differentiate as normal NC. These results demonstrate that anterior regions of the embryo lack NC because of a mechanism, conserved from fish to mammals, that suppresses Wnt/beta-catenin signaling via Dkk1.     

Lack of the murine homeobox gene Hesx1 leads to a posterior transformation of the anterior forebrain

The homeobox gene Hesx1 is an essential repressor that is required within the anterior neural plate for normal forebrain development in mouse and humans. Combining genetic cell labelling and marker analyses, we demonstrate that the absence of Hesx1 leads to a posterior transformation of the anterior forebrain (AFB) during mouse development. Our data suggest that the mechanism underlying this transformation is the ectopic activation of Wnt/beta-catenin signalling within the Hesx1 expression domain in the AFB. When ectopically expressed in the developing mouse embryo, Hesx1 alone cannot alter the normal fate of posterior neural tissue. However, conditional expression of Hesx1 within the AFB can rescue the forebrain defects observed in the Hesx1 mutants. The results presented here provide new insights into the function of Hesx1 in forebrain formation.     

Cloning and expression of a novel zinc finger gene, Fez, transcribed in the forebrain of Xenopus and mouse embryos

We have identified and cloned a novel zinc finger gene, Fez (forebrain embryonic zinc-finger), as a potential downstream determinant of anterior neural plate formation in Xenopus. Fez was isolated as one of several neural-specific genes that was induced by the neuralizing factor, noggin (Smith and Harland, 1992. Cell 70, 829-840), in uncommitted ectoderm. Fez has an open reading frame comprising 466 amino acids, and contains six C(2)H(2) type zinc finger domains, which are highly conserved among Drosophila, zebrafish, mouse, and human. In Xenopus, the expression of Fez begins at stage 12 in the rostral end of the neural plate, and by stage 45, it is localized to several telencephalic regions, including the olfactory bulbs, nervus terminalis, and ventricular zone. The mouse homologue of Fez is similarly expressed in the mouse forebrain by embryonic day 11.     

Early anteroposterior division of the presumptive neurectoderm in Xenopus

We analyze the timing of neural patterning in Xenopus and the mechanism by which the early pattern is generated. With regard to timing, we show that by early gastrula, two domains of the anteroposterior (A/P) pattern exist in the presumptive neurectoderm, since the opl gene is expressed throughout the future neural plate, while the fkh5 gene is expressed only in more posterior ectoderm. By mid-gastrula, this pattern has become more elaborate, with an anterior domain defined by expression of opl and otx2, a middle domain defined by expression of opl and fkh5, and a posterior domain defined by expression of opl, fkh5 and HoxD1. Explant assays indicate that the late blastula dorsal ectoderm is specified as the anterior domain, but is not yet specified as middle or posterior domains. With regard to the mechanism by which the A/P pattern is generated, gain and loss of function assays indicate that quantitatively and qualitatively different factors may be involved in inducing the early A/P neural pattern. These data show that neural patterning occurs early in Xenopus and suggest a molecular basis for initiating this pattern.     

The extracellular adenosine deaminase growth factor, ADGF/CECR1, plays a role in Xenopus embryogenesis via the adenosine/P1 receptor

Adenosine deaminase-related growth factors (ADGF), also known as CECR1 in vertebrates, are a novel family of growth factors with sequence similarity to classical cellular adenosine deaminase. Although genes for ADGF/CECR1 have been identified in both invertebrates as well as vertebrates, their in vivo functions in vertebrates remain unknown. We isolated cDNA clones for two cerc 1s from Xenopus laevis. Both recombinant Xenopus CECR1s exhibited adenosine deaminase and growth factor activity, and the adenosine deaminase activity was found to be indispensable for growth factor activity. The Xenopus cerc 1s are expressed in the somites, pronephros, eyes, cement gland, neural tube, and neural floor plate of the embryos. Knock-down of these two genes using morpholino oligonucleotides caused a reduction in the body size and abnormalities of the body axis in the Xenopus embryos, accompanied by selective changes in the expression of developmental marker genes. Injection of adenosine, agonists for adenosine/P1 receptors, or adenosine deaminase inhibitor into late gastrula archenteron embryos resulted in developmental defects similar to those caused by morpholino oligonucleotide injection. These results show, for the first time, the involvement of CECR1s via the adenosine/P1 receptors in vertebrate embryogenesis via regulation of extracellular adenosine concentrations.     

Auto/cross-regulation of Hoxb3 expression in posterior hindbrain and spinal cord

The complex and dynamic pattern of Hoxb3 expression in the developing hindbrain and the associated neural crest of mouse embryos is controlled by three separate cis-regulatory elements: element I (region A), element IIIa, and the r5 enhancer (element IVa). We have examined the cis-regulatory element IIIa by transgenic and mutational analysis to determine the upstream trans-acting factors and mechanisms that are involved in controlling the expression of the mouse Hoxb3 gene in the anterior spinal cord and hindbrain up to the r5/r6 boundary, as well as the associated neural crest which migrate to the third and posterior branchial arches and to the gut. By deletion analysis, we have identified the sequence requirements within a 482-bp element III482. Two Hox binding sites are identified in element III482 and we have shown that in vitro both Hoxb3 and Hoxb4 proteins can interact with these Hox binding sites, suggesting that auto/cross-regulation is required for establishing the expression of Hoxb3 in the neural tube domain. Interestingly, we have identified a novel GCCAGGC sequence motif within element III482, which is also required to direct gene expression to a subset of the expression domains except for rhombomere 6 and the associated neural crest migrating to the third and posterior branchial arches. Element III482 can direct a higher level of reporter gene expression in r6, which led us to investigate whether kreisler is involved in regulating Hoxb3 expression in r6 through this element. However, our transgenic and mutational analysis has demonstrated that, although kreisler binding sites are present, they are not required for the establishment or maintenance of reporter gene expression in r6. Our results have provided evidence that the expression of Hoxb3 in the neural tube up to the r5/r6 boundary is auto/cross-regulated by Hox genes and expression of Hoxb3 in r6 does not require kreisler.     

Multiple noggins in vertebrate genome: cloning and expression of noggin2 and noggin4 in Xenopus laevis

Noggin is a neural inducer secreted by cells of the Spemann organizer. A single noggin gene was identified until very recently in all tested vertebrates. The only exception was zebrafish, in which two close homologs of noggin, named noggin1 and noggin3, and one gene more diverged from them, noggin2, were cloned. Nevertheless, finding of three zebrafish noggins was attributed exclusively to specific genomic duplications in the fish evolutionary branch. However, very recently it was shown that Xenopus tropicalis have additional noggin homolog, called noggin2 [Fletcher, R.B., Watson, A.L., Harland, R.M. (2004). Expression of Xenopus tropicalis noggin1 and noggin2 in early development: two noggin genes in a tetrapod. Gene Expr. Patterns 5, 225-230], which indicates at least two independent noggin genes in vertebrate phylum. Now we report identification of two novel noggin homologs in each of so evolutionary distant species as Xenopus laevis, chicken and fugu. One of these noggins is ortholog of the X. tropicalis and zebrafish noggin2, whereas another, named noggin4, was not known previously. In the X. laevis embryos, the expression of noggin2 very resembles that of its counterpart in X. tropicalis: it begins with neurulation at the anterior margin of the neural plate and, afterward, continues mainly in the forebrain and dorsal hindbrain. At the same time, noggin4 is expressed starting from the beginning of gastrulation, throughout the ectoderm, with a local expression maximum in the prospective anterior neurectoderm. Later, it is widely expressed on the dorsal side of embryo, including neural tube, eyes, otic vesicles, cranial placodes, branchial arches, and somites. The data presented here demonstrate that the vertebrate phylum contains at least three distinct noggin genes.     

Mesoderm induction in the future tail region of Xenopus

Summary We have used interspecific grafts between Xenopus borealis and Xenopus laevis to study the signalling system that produces tail mesoderm. Early gastrula ectoderm grafted into the posterior neural plate region of neurulae responds to a mesodermal inducing signal in this region and forms mainly tail somites; this signal persists until at least the early tail bud stage. Ventral ectoderm grafted into the posterior neural plate loses its competence to respond to this signal after stage 10 1/2. We have established the specification of anterior and posterior neural plate ectoderm. In ectodermal sandwiches or when grafted into unusual positions, anterior regions gave rise to mainly nervous system and posterior regions to large amounts of muscle, together with some nervous system. Thus it was impossible to assess the competence of posterior neural plate ectoderm to form further mesoderm and hence to establish if mesodermal induction continues during neurulation in unmanipulated embryos.     

Xenopus Enhancer of Zeste (XEZ); an anteriorly restricted polycomb gene with a role in neural patterning

We have identified the Xenopus homologue of Drosophila Enhancer of Zeste using a differential display strategy designed to identify genes involved in early anterior neural differentiation. XEZ codes for a protein of 748 amino acids that is very highly conserved in evolution and is 96% identical to both human and mouse EZ(H)2. In common with most other Xenopus Pc-G genes and unlike mammalian Pc-G genes, XEZ is anteriorly restricted. Zygotic expression of XEZ commences during gastrulation, much earlier than other anteriorly localized Pc-G genes; expression is restricted to the anterior neural plate and is confined later to the forebrain, eyes and branchial arches. XEZ is induced in animal caps overexpressing noggin; up-regulation of XEZ therefore represents a response to inhibition of BMP signalling in ectodermal cells. We show that the midbrain/hindbrain junction marker En-2,and hindbrain marker Krox-20, are target genes of XEZ and that XEZ functions to repress these anteroposterior marker genes. Conversely, XEZ does not repress the forebrain marker Otx-2. XEZ overexpression results in a greatly thickened floor of the forebrain. These results implicate an important role for XEZ in the patterning of the nervous system.