Vertebrate Ctr1 coordinates morphogenesis and progenitor cell fate and regulates embryonic stem cell differentiation.

ABSTRACT: Embryogenesis involves two distinct processes. On the one hand, cells must specialize, acquiring fates appropriate to their positions (differentiation); on the other hand, they must physically construct the embryo through coordinated mechanical activity (morphogenesis). In early vertebrate development, fibroblast growth factor (FGF) regulates multiple embryonic events, including germ layer differentiation and morphogenesis; the cellular components that direct FGF signaling to evoke these different responses remain largely unknown. We show here that the copper transporter 1 (Ctr1) protein is a critical router of FGF signals during early embryogenesis. Ctr1 both promotes the differentiation and inhibits the morphogenesis of mesoderm and neurectoderm in embryos of the frog Xenopus laevis, the

SUBMITTER: Haremaki T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1924542 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature