Participation of Bdnf/Trk cell signaling pathway in Xenopus laevis neural crest development

MERCEDES GUADALUPE GARAY; SANTIAGO CERRIZUELA; GUILLERMO VEGA LÓPEZ; MANUEL J. AYBAR

Buenos Aires

Simposio; Simposio Internacional The role of glia in health and disease of the nervous system: clinical and basic science walking together; 2017

Max Planck Society, IBIOMA-Conicet

The neural crest is a multipotent cell population, crucial for embryo development, and is exclusive of vertebrate organisms. The NC cells arise at the border between the neural plate and the prospective epidermis, then migrate through the entire embryo and differentiate in several kind of cells. The NC gives rise to a variety of cellular type such as sensitive neurons and glia, cartilage and bone of the head, neuroendocrine cells, pigmentary cells and connective tissue. In our lab we have demonstrated the multiple cellular signaling pathway who participate in NC formation, migration and specification during Xenopus laevis embryogenesis. The Bdnf/Trk signaling pathway is involved in the formation of cells derived from NC in chicken and mouse. We have shown the spatiotemporal expression pattern of the different components of this pathway in Xenopus laevis, by whole-mount in situ hybridization. The results showed that trk and bdnf are expressed in the prospective, premigratory and migratory NC. The functional analysis, evidenced by in situ hybridization analyses, showed that the overexpression of these genes affect the neural crest cells precursor formation producing a decrease in the expression of specific neural crest markers, such snail2 and sox10. The use of a dominant negative form of Trk produced an increment in the expression of the neural crest marker snail2 and sox10. Moreover, the specific knock down of the trk mRNA by the use of a morpholino antisense oligonucleotide produced an increase in the expression of this marker. Current experiments are being addressed to explore the role of this signaling pathway in the formation neural crest derivatives. To summarize, we have found that the trk/bdnf signaling is essential for NC formation.