Participation of the POU family genes in the early development of Xenopus neural crest

NORMA TOLABA; GABRIELA MARRANZINO; MARCELA BONANO; MANUEL J. AYBAR

Tafí del Valle

Congreso; XVII Jornadas Científicas Asociación de Biología de Tucumán; 2010

Asociación de Biología de Tucumán

Participation of the POU family genes in the early development of Xenopus neural crest N. Tolaba, G. Marranzino, M. Bonano, M. J. Aybar Dept. of Dev. Biology, INSIBIO (CONICET-UNT), Chacabuco 461, Tucuman, T4000ILI. mjaybar@fbqf.unt.edu.ar  The neural crest (NC) is a cell population present only in vertebrate embryos. It gives rise to a wide variety of cell types and tissues. This population originates in the embryonic ectoderm through the interaction between different signals that activate a genic cascade wich determines the identity of the NC. At the moment, only a few genes and signaling pathways that participate in the NC development have been identified, and their relationships remain still poorly understood. POU family transcription factors of subclass V are involved in the maintenance of pluripotency in the embryos of some animal species. To investigate the role of the POU family genes in the early NC development of Xenopus laevis we analized the expression pattern and the function of the genes Oct25 and Oct91. These genes are expressed in the dorsal area of the embyonic ectoderm. The gain-of-function approaches through the microinjection of Oct25 and Oct91 mRNAs showed an increased expression of FoxD3 and Snail2 gene markers indicating that both genes participate in the early induction and the maintenance of the NC. Furthermore, the overexpression and activation of Oct25 just before the migration of the NC delayed the NC cell migration. Our results suggest that Oct25 could be able to extend the period of NC specification in embryos of X. laevis.