Cripto is required for correct orientation of the anterior–posterior axis in the mouse embryo

Jixiang Ding, Lu Yang, Yu-Ting Yan, Amy Chen, Nishita Desai, Anthony Wynshaw-Boris and Michael M. Shen ()
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Jixiang Ding: Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and Dept of Pediatrics, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Lu Yang: Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and Dept of Pediatrics, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Yu-Ting Yan: Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and Dept of Pediatrics, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Amy Chen: Laboratory of Genetic Disease Resarch, National Human Genome Research Institute
Nishita Desai: Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and Dept of Pediatrics, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Anthony Wynshaw-Boris: Laboratory of Genetic Disease Resarch, National Human Genome Research Institute
Michael M. Shen: Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and Dept of Pediatrics, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

Nature, 1998, vol. 395, issue 6703, 702-707

Abstract: Abstract The anterior–posterior axis of the mouse embryo is established by two distinct organizing centres in the anterior visceral endoderm and the distal primitive streak1,2,3,4,5,6,7. These organizers induce and pattern the head and trunk respectively, and have been proposed to be localized through coordinate cell movements that rotate a pre-existing proximal–distal axis6,8. Here we show that correct localization of both head- and trunk-organizing centres requires Cripto9,10, a putative signalling molecule that is a member of the EGF-CFC gene family11,12. Before gastrulation, Cripto is asymmetrically expressed in a proximal–distal gradient in the epiblast, and subsequently is expressed in the primitive streak and newly formed embryonic mesoderm. A Cripto null mutation generated by targeted gene disruption results in homozygous Cripto−/− embryos that mostly consist of anterior neuroectoderm and lack posterior structures, thus resembling a head without a trunk. Notably, markers of the head organizer are located at the distal end of the embryo, whereas markers of the primitive streak are absent or localized to the proximal side. Our results indicate that Cripto signalling is essential for the conversion of a proximal–distal asymmetry into an orthogonal anterior–posterior axis.

Date: 1998
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DOI: 10.1038/27215

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