Wnt signaling and tbx16 form a bistable switch to commit bipotential progenitors to mesoderm.

ABSTRACT: Anterior to posterior growth of the vertebrate body is fueled by a posteriorly located population of bipotential neuro-mesodermal progenitor cells. These progenitors have a limited rate of proliferation and their maintenance is crucial for completion of the anterior-posterior axis. How they leave the progenitor state and commit to differentiation is largely unknown, in part because widespread modulation of factors essential for this process causes organism-wide effects. Using a novel assay, we show that zebrafish Tbx16 (Spadetail) is capable of advancing mesodermal differentiation cell-autonomously. Tbx16 locks cells into the mesodermal state by not only activating downstream mesodermal genes, but also by repressing bipotential progenitor genes, in part through a direct repression of sox2.

SUBMITTER: Bouldin CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4510867 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature