Notch destabilises maternal beta-catenin and restricts dorsalanterior development in Xenopus

ACOSTA, HELENA (*) 1ST AUTHOR, EQUALLY CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR, IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER; LÓPEZ, SILVIA (*) 1ST AUTHOR, EQUALLY CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR, IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER; REVINSKI, DIEGO R.; CARRASCO, ANDRÉS E.

DEVELOPMENT

COMPANY OF BIOLOGISTS LTD

Año: 2011 vol. 138 p. 2567 - 2579

0950-1991

The blastula chordin- and noggin-expressing centre (BCNE) is the predecessor of the Spemann-Mangold?s organiser and also contains the precursors of the brain. This signalling centre comprises animal-dorsal and marginal-dorsal cells and appears as a consequence of the nuclear accumulation of beta-catenin on the dorsal side. Here, we propose a role for Notch that was not previously explored during early development in vertebrates. Notch initially destabilises beta-catenin in a process that does not depend on its phosphorylation by GSK3. This is important to restrict the BCNE to its normal extent and to control the size of the brain.