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PMID: 8062830 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Effects of truncated activin and FGF receptors and of follistatin on the inducing activities of BVg1 and activin: does activin play a role in mesoderm induction?

The EMBO journal ·Vol. 13 ·No. 15 ·1994-08-01 ·Pages 3533-41

Schulte-Merker S, Smith JC, Dale L

Abstract

Activin and Vg1, two members of the TGF-beta family, are believed to play roles in mesoderm induction and axis formation in the amphibian embryo. Both molecules are provided maternally, either as protein (activin) or as RNA and protein (Vg1), and experiments with a truncated form of a type IIB activin receptor have led to the conclusion that activin is required for induction of mesoderm in vivo. In this paper we first show that truncated versions of two different Xenopus activin receptors also have severe effects on the activity of the mature region of Vg1, suggesting that such receptors may block the function of several members of the TGF-beta family. We go on to demonstrate that follistatin, a secreted protein which binds activin and blocks its activity, does not interfere with Vg1 signalling. Furthermore, overexpression of follistatin mRNA in Xenopus embryos does not perturb mesoderm formation. Taken together, our data show that the effects of truncated activin receptors on Xenopus development can be explained by the inhibition of Vg1 activity, while the lack of effect of follistatin argues against a function for activin in mesoderm induction.

MeSH Terms
Activin Receptors Activins Animals Bone Morphogenetic Proteins Embryonic Induction/physiology Follistatin Glycoproteins/chemistry,genetics,metabolism Inhibins/genetics,metabolism Mesoderm/metabolism Microinjections Proteins/genetics RNA, Messenger Receptors, Fibroblast Growth Factor/chemistry,genetics,metabolism Receptors, Growth Factor/chemistry,genetics,metabolism Signal Transduction/physiology Transcription, Genetic Transforming Growth Factor beta/metabolism Xenopus/embryology Xenopus Proteins
Chemicals
Bone Morphogenetic Proteins Follistatin GDF1 protein, Xenopus Glycoproteins Proteins RNA, Messenger Receptors, Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptors, Growth Factor Transforming Growth Factor beta Xenopus Proteins Activins Inhibins Activin Receptors
Authors & Affiliations
3 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Schulte-Merker S
Laboratory of Developmental Biology, National Institute for Medical Research, London, UK.
Smith J C
Dale L
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Article Info
Journal
The EMBO journal
Abbr.
EMBO J
ISSN
0261-4189
Published
1994-08-01
Pages
3533-41
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
8208664
PMCID
PMC395257
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source PMC Full Text View journal details
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