INVESTIGADORES
AYBAR Manuel Javier
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Functional analysis of Hairy genes during Xenopus neural crest development
Autor/es:
GUILLERMO VEGA LÓPEZ; MANUEL J. AYBAR
Lugar:
Rosario, Santa Fé
Reunión:
Congreso; XLII Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Bioquímica y Biología Molecular (SAIB); 2006
Institución organizadora:
Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Bioquímica y Biología Molecular (SAIB)
Resumen:
It has been demonstrated that the yuxtacrine cell signaling pathway Notch/Delta is involved in the control of different developmental processes. The genes of the Hairy family encode transcription factors containing a bHLH DNA binding domain that are direct targets of Notch/Delta signaling in vertebrates and invertebrates. We have previously shown that Xenopus Hairy genes (Hairy1, Hairy2a, and Hairy2b) are expressed in the neural fold, the prospective neural crest (NC) region, from late gastrula stage onward. The expression patterns of Hairy genes suggest that they have a role in neural crest induction and migration. In order to analyze the role of Hairy genes during NC development by conditional gain- and loss-of-function, we have prepared chimeric inducible proteins by fusing the coding sequences to the ligand binding domain of glucocorticoid receptor. The overexpression of antisense oligonucleotides or chimeric inducible proteins and their dominant negatives by microinjection of in vitro transcribed mRNAs into developing embryos demonstrated that Hairy genes are required for the induction and migration of NC cells. The overexpression of Hairy2b mRNA in naïve ectodermal tissue showed that this gene is able to induce neural crest markers. Our results indicate that Hairy genes are involved in neural crest development and that they are functionally equivalent.