Suppressor of Fused is involved in Xenopus laevis Neural Crest Development

JUAN P. FERNÁNDEZ; TRISTAN H. AGUERO; MANUEL J. AYBAR

San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán. Argentina

Congreso; 45ª Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Bioquímica y Biología Molecular; 2009

Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Bioquímica y Biología Molecular

The neural crest (NC) is a migratory and multipotent embryonic cell population specific of vertebrate embryos. It generates many derivatives ranging from neurons to the craniofacial skeleton and melanocytes. A complex gene regulatory network (BMP, Wnt, FGF, Notch and RA) mediates the intricated process of NC formation. However, the participation of other genes and cell signals in NC specification has not been established. The Hedgehog (Hh) pathway presents a high conservation degree in differents species. We have previously shown that the expression patterns of Bhh and its transcription effector Gli3 overlap with NC markers and both genes participate in the NC induction in Xenopus laevis (Xl). The Gli proteins exist as a part of Hh signaling complexes (HSCs) consisting of Cos2, Fu, Smo, and Suppressor of Fused (Sufu). In this work we focus our analysis in regulatory aspects of the pathway concerning to HSCs, analyzing the role of a novel N-Sufu isoform in the NC induction. In silico analysis have shown two regions of high identity between full length Sufu and N-Sufu isoform. We shown that Sufu expression patterns overlap with NC markers and through functional experiments that this gene is implicated in NC formation. Our results demonstrate that Bhh pathway is required for normal development and provide new insights into the possible molecular regulation of Hh pathway in the NC.