α5β1 integrin-mediated adhesion to fibronectin is required for axis elongation and somitogenesis in mice.

ABSTRACT: The arginine-glycine-aspartate (RGD) motif in fibronectin (FN) represents the major binding site for α5β1 and αvβ3 integrins. Mice lacking a functional RGD motif in FN (FN(RGE/RGE)) or α5 integrin develop identical phenotypes characterized by embryonic lethality and a severely shortened posterior trunk with kinked neural tubes. Here we show that the FN(RGE/RGE) embryos arrest both segmentation and axis elongation. The arrest is evident at about E9.0, corresponding to a stage when gastrulation ceases and the tail bud-derived presomitic mesoderm (PSM) induces α5 integrin expression and assumes axis elongation. At this stage cells of the posterior part of the PSM in wild type embryos are tightly coordinated, express somitic oscillator and cyclic genes required for segmentation, and form a tap

SUBMITTER: Giros A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3142108 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature