Mesoderm migration is a pivotal event in the early embryonic development of animals. One of the best-studied examples occurs during Drosophila gastrulation. Here, mesodermal cells invaginate, undergo an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and spread out dorsally over the inner surface of the ectoderm. Although several genes required for spreading have been identified, our inability to v...

The WAS protein (WASp) coordinates actin polymerization at the leading edge of migrating cells and is defective in patients suffering from Wiskott Aldrich syndrome, resulting in severe immunodeficiency. To model this disease we are using translucent Zebrafish larvae and have begun to characterise a newly derived WASp mutant. The mutant codes for a heavily truncated protein, which we are assayin...

At the head-trunk transition, hindbrain and spinal cord alignment to occipital and vertebral bones is crucial for coherent neural and skeletal system organization. Changes in neural or mesodermal tissue configuration arising from defects in the specification, patterning or relative axial placement of territories can severely compromise their integration and function. Here, we show that coordina...

Flk1, the gene encoding the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR-2), is a well-known marker for vascular and hematopoietic progenitors and is indispensable for normal hematopoiesis and vasculogenesis. Here we show that Flk1 expression in the early mouse embryo marks a broad spectrum of mesodermal progenitors exiting the primitive streak as well as later mesodermal cell types inc...

To investigate whether mesodermal expansion in the area vasculosa is caused by tension produced by outward migration of cells either in the somatic mesoderm or at the mesodermal edge on an ectodermal substratum, stage 18-20 embryos were transferred to a culture dish. There mesodermal expansion proximal to an arrested edge could be compared with that proximal to a moving edge by measuring the am...

C originating from the remnants of notochord during embryogenesis, is one of the major challenging tumor types of all bone sarcomas with slow growing potential and high recurrence rate. Studies indicated that brachyury, the expressed gene in early stages of mesodermal development in cells with high potential of differentiation; is specific to almost all chordomas. Differentiation therapy is a p...

During Xenopus gastrulation alpha5beta1 integrin function is modulated in a temporally and spatially restricted manner, however, the regulatory mechanisms behind this regulation remain uncharacterized. Here we report that XGIPC/kermit2 binds to the cytoplasmic domain of the alpha5 subunit and regulates the activity of alpha5beta1 integrin. The interaction of kermit2 with alpha5beta1 is essentia...

Signals of Notch transmembrane receptors function to regulate a wide variety of developmental cell fates. Here we investigate the role of Notch signaling in the development of mesodermal cell types by expressing a tamoxifen-inducible, activated form of Notch1 in embryonic stem cells (ESC). For differentiation of ESC into first mesodermal progenitor cells and then endothelial, mural, cardiac mus...

Flk1, the gene encoding the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2), is a well-known marker for vascular and hematopoietic progenitors and is indispensable for normal hematopoiesis and vasculogenesis. Here we show that Flk1 expression in the early mouse embryo marks a broad spectrum of mesodermal progenitors exiting the primitive streak as well as later mesodermal cell types incl...

Neuronal and mesodermal cell types are generated in separate cell lineages during the larval development of Caenorhabditis elegans. Here we demonstrate that the gene sem-4 is required in both types of lineages for the normal development of neuronal and mesodermal cell types. The sem-4 gene encodes a protein containing seven zinc finger motifs of the C2H2 class, four of which are arranged in two...