Bmp4/msx1 y Slug in the control of neural crest induction and apoptosis of Xenopus laevis.

TRÍBULO, C.; AYBAR, M.J.; MAYOR, R.; SÁNCHEZ, S.S.

Tafi del Valle, Tucumán

Congreso; XXI Annual Scientific Meeting of Tucumán Society Biology; 2005

Asociación de Biología de Tucumán

The neural crest (NC) is a population of cells present exclusively in vertebrates. At the present, little is know about the signals and genes involved in NC formation. It has been proposed that once the NC is established, other mechanisms like apoptosis, are required to control the exact size of NC derivatives. In the present work, the participation of BMP4 signaling and msx1 gene during NC specification was established. Additionally, the rol of apoptosis in NC tissue and its regulation was analyzed. Results showed that msx1 gene is expressed in the neural fold and increased its expression at intermediate levels of BMP4 activity, concomitant with the expression of neural crest markers. Additional experimental evidence showed that msx1 is required for the development of neural crest. The analysis of the apoptosis spatio-temporal pattern by TUNEL showed that apoptotic nuclei are colocalized with the expression of msx1. An experimental gain- and loss- of function approach showed that msx1 acts as an proapoptotic gene while the neural crest gene slug is an antiapoptotic factor. Our results demonstrate that msx1 is required for proper neural crest development and that participates with slug in the regulation of NC apoptosis.