Organizer-derived Bmp2 is required for the formation of a correct Bmp activity gradient during embryonic development

Yu Xue, Xiudeng Zheng, Lei Huang, Pengfei Xu, Yuanqing Ma, Zheying Min, Qinghua Tao, Yi Tao () and Anming Meng ()
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Yu Xue: State Key Laboratory of Biomembrane and Membrane Engineering, Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, Tsinghua University
Xiudeng Zheng: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Centre for Computational Biology and Evolution, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Lei Huang: School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University
Pengfei Xu: State Key Laboratory of Biomembrane and Membrane Engineering, Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, Tsinghua University
Yuanqing Ma: State Key Laboratory of Biomembrane and Membrane Engineering, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zheying Min: School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University
Qinghua Tao: School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University
Yi Tao: Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Centre for Computational Biology and Evolution, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Anming Meng: State Key Laboratory of Biomembrane and Membrane Engineering, Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, Tsinghua University

Nature Communications, 2014, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Abstract Bone morphogenetic proteins (Bmps) control dorsoventral patterning of vertebrate embryos through the establishment of a ventrodorsal gradient of the activated downstream cytoplasmic effectors Smad1/5/8. Some Bmp ligands are expressed in the ventral and lateral regions and in the organizer during gastrulation of the embryo, but it remains unclear how organizer-derived Bmps contribute to total Bmp ligand levels and to the establishment of the correct phospho-Smad1/5/8 gradient along the ventrodorsal axis. Here we demonstrate that interference with organizer-specific Bmp2b signalling in zebrafish embryos alters the phospho-Smad1/5/8 gradient throughout the ventrodorsal axis, elevates the levels of the Bmp antagonist Chordin and dorsalizes the embryos. Moreover, we show that organizer-derived Bmp2b represses chordin transcription in the organizer and contributes to the control of the Chordin gradient. Combining these experimental results with simulations of Bmp’s reaction-diffusion dynamics, our data indicate that organizer-produced Bmp2b is required for the establishment and maintenance of a Bmp activity gradient and for appropriate embryonic dorsoventral patterning during gastrulation.

Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4766

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