The citoplasmic regulator Suppressor of Fused exerts a key rol in Indian hedgehog/Gli3 pathway during neural crest development in Xenopus

JUAN PABLO FERNANDEZ; TRISTÁN AGÜERO; GUILLERMINA HILL-TERAN; MANUEL J. AYBAR

Montevideo

Congreso; 6th International Meeting of the LASDB; 2012

Latinamerican Society for Developmental Biology

The neural crest (NC) develops at the border between neuralplate and the prospective epidermis in all vertebrate embryos. NC cells arehighly migratory and generate many cell derivatives (neurons, pigment cells,cartilage, glial cells, etc.). It has been demonstrated that several signals (BMP4,Wnt, FGF, etc.) are involved in the induction of this tissue. However, theparticipation of other genes and cell signals in NC specification has not beenestablished. The Hedgehog (Hh) pathway regulates a wide variety of processesduring embryonic development and presents a high conservation degree indifferents species, from flies to humans. We have previously shown that IndianHh (Ihh) and its transcription effector Gli3 participate in the NC induction inXenopus laevis. The Gli proteins have a role as a part of Hh signalingcomplexes (HSCs). In this work we focus our analysis in regulatory aspects ofthe pathway, analyzing the role of crucial HSCs member Suppressor of Fused(Sufu), in the NC induction and NC derivatives. We show, for the first time,the presence of a short isoform of Sufu in Xenopus, called SufuN. Whole mountin situ hybridization revealed an overlapping expression patterns of NC genemarkers and Sufu. Gain and loss of function approach, using mRNA overexpressionand oligonucleotide antisense morpholino against Sufu respectively, revealsthat this gene is involved and is required for proper NC formation. Consideringall these results, we conclude that the Hh pathway is required for normal NCdevelopment and provides new clues on the role of HSC in the molecularregulation of Hh pathway in Xenopus laevis.