INVESTIGADORES
AYBAR Manuel Javier
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Functional analysis of the Hairy gene family in Xenopus laevis development
Autor/es:
GUILLERMO VEGA LÓPEZ; MANUEL J. AYBAR
Lugar:
Tafí del Valle
Reunión:
Congreso; XVII Jornadas Científicas Asociación de Biología de Tucumán; 2010
Institución organizadora:
Asociación de Biología de Tucumán
Resumen:
Neural crest cells (NCC) belong to a population of proliferative, migratory and multipotent progenitor cells found only in vertebrate embryos. Recently, the yuxtacrine signaling pathway Notch/Delta has been involved in the induction process of NCC in experimental vertebrate animal models. The Hairy genes family has been described as direct targets of Notch/Delta signaling in vertebrates and invertebrates. Hairy genes are transcription factors containing a basic helix-loop- helix (bHLH) domain of union to the DNA molecule. In the present work, in order to analyze the role of Hairy genes during NCC development by conditional gain- and loss-of-function, we have prepared chimeric inducible proteins. 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 involved in the induction and migration of NC cells. The transcriptional activity of the Hairy genes was evaluated for a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in the control of these developmental processes. Our findings show that Hairy genes are key players in the regulatory network controlling Xenopus NCC development.