We showed that overexpression of Nk圆.3 affects multiple signaling pathways, creating a high-Wnt, low-BMP environment required for neural crest development.
In animal caps, Nk圆.3 alone is able to initiate the whole neural crest regulatory network and induces neural crest fate robustly. Inhibition of Nk圆.3 by dominant negative construct or specific morpholino leads to neural crest defects, while overexpression of Nk圆.3 induces ectopic neural crest in the anterior neural fold. XNk圆.3 is expressed in the ectoderm of the neural plate border region at neurula stages, covering the epidermis, placode and neural crest territories, but not the neural plate. Here we identified Nk圆.3, a transcription factor of the Nkx family, as a new NPB specifier required for neural crest development in Xenopus embryos.
Understanding the mechanisms of NPB formation and NC development is critical for our knowledge of related human diseases. The crosstalk between these NPB specifiers governs the separation of the NPB region into placode and neural crest (NC) territories and also their further differentiation. In vertebrates, the neural plate border (NPB) is established by a group of transcription factors including Dlx3, Msx1 and Zic1.
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