During embryogenesis, the three SOXF transcription factors, SOX7, SOX17 and SOX18, regulate the specification of the cardiovascular system and are also involved in the development of haematopoiesis. The ectopic expression of SOX17 in both embryonic and adult blood cells enhances self-renewal. Likewise, the enforced expression of SOX7 during embryonic development promotes the proliferation of ea...

Vertebrate endoderm development has recently become the focus of intense investigation. We have identified a novel sox gene, 226D7, which is important in zebrafish endoderm development. 226D7 was isolated by an in situ hybridization screening for genes expressed in the yolk syncytial layer (YSL) at the blastula stage. 226D7 is expressed mainly in the YSL at this stage and, during gastrulation, ...

In early embryogenesis, the posteroventral foregut endoderm gives rise 22 to the budding endodermal organs including the liver, ventral pancreas and gallbladder 23 during early somitogenesis. Despite the detailed fate maps of the liver and pancreatic 24 progenitors in the mouse foregut endoderm, the exact location of the gallbladder 25 progenitors remains unclear. In this study, we performed a ...