Cyclooxygenase-1-derived PGE2 promotes cell motility via the G-protein-coupled EP4 receptor during vertebrate gastrulation.

ABSTRACT: Gastrulation is a fundamental process during embryogenesis that shapes proper body architecture and establishes three germ layers through coordinated cellular actions of proliferation, fate specification, and movement. Although many molecular pathways involved in the specification of cell fate and polarity during vertebrate gastrulation have been identified, little is known of the signaling that imparts cell motility. Here we show that prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) production by microsomal PGE(2) synthase (Ptges) is essential for gastrulation movements in zebrafish. Furthermore, PGE(2) signaling regulates morphogenetic movements of convergence and extension as well as epiboly through the G-protein-coupled PGE(2) receptor (EP4) via phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt. EP4 signaling is no

SUBMITTER: Cha YI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1356102 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature