PUBLICATION

Floor plate and motor neuron induction by vhh-1, a vertebrate homolog of hedgehog expressed by the notochord

Authors
Roelink, H., Augsburger, A., Heemskerk, J., Korzh, V., Norlin, S., Ruiz-i-Altaba, A., Tanabe, Y., Placzek, M., Edlund, T., Jessell, T.M., and Dodd, J.
ID
ZDB-PUB-961014-945
Date
1994
Source
Cell   76: 761-775 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Korzh, Vladimir
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Base Sequence
  • Cell Differentiation
  • Chick Embryo
  • DNA Primers/chemistry
  • Drosophila Proteins*
  • Embryonic Induction*
  • Extremities/embryology
  • Gene Expression
  • Hedgehog Proteins
  • In Situ Hybridization
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Motor Neurons/cytology
  • Nervous System/embryology*
  • Proteins/chemistry
  • Proteins/genetics*
  • RNA, Messenger/genetics
  • Rats
  • Sequence Alignment
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
  • Solubility
  • Trans-Activators*
  • Xenopus laevis
  • Zebrafish/genetics
  • Zebrafish Proteins
PubMed
8124714 Full text @ Cell
Abstract
The differentiation of distinct cell types in the ventral neural tube depends on local inductive signals from the notochord. We have isolated a vertebrate homolog of the Drosophila segment polarity gene hedgehog (hh) from zebrafish and rat, termed vhh-1. vhh-1 is expressed in the node, notochord, floor plate, and posterior limb bud mesenchyme. Each of these cell groups has floor plate inducing activity, suggesting that the vhh-1 gene may encode a floor plate-inducing molecule. Widespread expression of rat vhh-1 in frog embryos leads to ectopic floor plate differentiation in the neural tube. In vitro tests for the signaling functions of vhh-1 demonstrate that COS cells expressing the rat vhh-1 gene induce floor plate and motor neuron differentiation in neural plate explants. vhh-1 may, therefore, contribute to the floor plate and motor neuron inducing activities of the notochord.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping