Churchill regulates cell movement and mesoderm specification by repressing Nodal signaling.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Cell movements are essential to the determination of cell fates during development. The zinc-finger transcription factor, Churchill (ChCh) has been proposed to regulate cell fate by regulating cell movements during gastrulation in the chick. However, the mechanism of action of ChCh is not understood.

Results

We demonstrate that ChCh acts to repress the response to Nodal-related signals in zebrafish. When ChCh function is abrogated the expression of mesodermal markers is enhanced while ectodermal markers are expressed at decreased levels. In cell transplant assays, we observed that ChCh-deficient cells are more motile than wild-type cells. When placed in wild-type hosts, ChCh-deficient cells often leave the epiblast, migrate to the germ ring and are later found in

SUBMITTER: Londin ER 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2180179 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature