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The control of foxN2/3 expression in sea urchin embryos and its function in the skeletogenic gene regulatory network.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Rho, HK; McClay, DR
Published in: Development (Cambridge, England)
March 2011

Early development requires well-organized temporal and spatial regulation of transcription factors that are assembled into gene regulatory networks (GRNs). In the sea urchin, an endomesoderm GRN model explains much of the specification in the endoderm and mesoderm prior to gastrulation, yet some GRN connections remain incomplete. Here, we characterize FoxN2/3 in the primary mesenchyme cell (PMC) GRN state. Expression of foxN2/3 mRNA begins in micromeres at the hatched blastula stage and then is lost from micromeres at the mesenchyme blastula stage. foxN2/3 expression then shifts to the non-skeletogenic mesoderm and, later, to the endoderm. Here, we show that Pmar1, Ets1 and Tbr are necessary for activation of foxN2/3 in micromeres. The later endomesoderm expression of foxN2/3 is independent of the earlier expression of foxN2/3 in micromeres and is independent of signals from PMCs. FoxN2/3 is necessary for several steps in the formation of the larval skeleton. Early expression of genes for the skeletal matrix is dependent on FoxN2/3, but only until the mesenchyme blastula stage as foxN2/3 mRNA disappears from PMCs at that time and we assume that the protein is not abnormally long-lived. Knockdown of FoxN2/3 inhibits normal PMC ingression and foxN2/3 morphant PMCs do not organize in the blastocoel and fail to join the PMC syncytium. In addition, without FoxN2/3, the PMCs fail to repress the transfating of other mesodermal cells into the skeletogenic lineage. Thus, FoxN2/3 is necessary for normal ingression, for expression of several skeletal matrix genes, for preventing transfating and for fusion of the PMC syncytium.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Development (Cambridge, England)

DOI

EISSN

1477-9129

ISSN

0950-1991

Publication Date

March 2011

Volume

138

Issue

5

Start / End Page

937 / 945

Related Subject Headings

  • Transcription Factors
  • Sea Urchins
  • RNA, Messenger
  • Mesoderm
  • Giant Cells
  • Gene Regulatory Networks
  • Extracellular Matrix
  • Endoderm
  • Embryo, Nonmammalian
  • Calcification, Physiologic
 

Citation

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Rho, H. K., & McClay, D. R. (2011). The control of foxN2/3 expression in sea urchin embryos and its function in the skeletogenic gene regulatory network. Development (Cambridge, England), 138(5), 937–945. https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.058396
Rho, Ho Kyung, and David R. McClay. “The control of foxN2/3 expression in sea urchin embryos and its function in the skeletogenic gene regulatory network.Development (Cambridge, England) 138, no. 5 (March 2011): 937–45. https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.058396.
Rho HK, McClay DR. The control of foxN2/3 expression in sea urchin embryos and its function in the skeletogenic gene regulatory network. Development (Cambridge, England). 2011 Mar;138(5):937–45.
Rho, Ho Kyung, and David R. McClay. “The control of foxN2/3 expression in sea urchin embryos and its function in the skeletogenic gene regulatory network.Development (Cambridge, England), vol. 138, no. 5, Mar. 2011, pp. 937–45. Epmc, doi:10.1242/dev.058396.
Rho HK, McClay DR. The control of foxN2/3 expression in sea urchin embryos and its function in the skeletogenic gene regulatory network. Development (Cambridge, England). 2011 Mar;138(5):937–945.
Journal cover image

Published In

Development (Cambridge, England)

DOI

EISSN

1477-9129

ISSN

0950-1991

Publication Date

March 2011

Volume

138

Issue

5

Start / End Page

937 / 945

Related Subject Headings

  • Transcription Factors
  • Sea Urchins
  • RNA, Messenger
  • Mesoderm
  • Giant Cells
  • Gene Regulatory Networks
  • Extracellular Matrix
  • Endoderm
  • Embryo, Nonmammalian
  • Calcification, Physiologic