deltaNp63 is regulated by BMP4 signaling and is required for early epidermal development in Xenopus

CELESTE TRÍBULO; MARÍA GUADALUPE BARRIONUEVO; TRISTÁN H. AGUERO; SARA S. SÁNCHEZ; NORA B. CALCATERRA; MANUEL J. AYBAR

DEVELOPMENTAL DYNAMICS

WILEY-LISS, DIV JOHN WILEY & SONS INC

Año: 2012 vol. 241 p. 257 - 269

1058-8388

It has been established in several models that the p63 gene has an important role in the development of the epidermis and its derivatives. In  Xenopus, only the  ∆Np63 isoform of this gene has been cloned and its role during epidermal development remains unknown. In this work we showed that ∆Np63 is expressed in the non2neural ectoderm since the gastrula stage and that it is regulated by the BMP4 signaling pathway. Our in vivo and in vitro experiments demonstrated that ∆Np63 is required in the earliest inductive steps of epidermal development. The overexpression  of  ∆Np63 caused an increase in epidermal markers with a suppression of neural induction while the blocking of ∆Np63 led to the opposite results. Finally, we found that  ∆Np63 acts as an antiapoptotic gene, regulating the transcription of some apoptotic and anti2apoptotic factors. Taken together, these results suggest that  ∆Np63  is an essential gene in early epidermal specification under the control of BMP4.