Maternal Dead-End1 is required for vegetal cortical microtubule assembly during Xenopus axis specification.

ABSTRACT: Vertebrate axis specification is an evolutionarily conserved developmental process that relies on asymmetric activation of Wnt signaling and subsequent organizer formation on the future dorsal side of the embryo. Although roles of Wnt signaling during organizer formation have been studied extensively, it is unclear how the Wnt pathway is asymmetrically activated. In Xenopus and zebrafish, the Wnt pathway is triggered by dorsal determinants, which are translocated from the vegetal pole to the future dorsal side of the embryo shortly after fertilization. The transport of dorsal determinants requires a unique microtubule network formed in the vegetal cortex shortly after fertilization. However, molecular mechanisms governing the formation of vegetal cortical microtubule arrays are not fully u

SUBMITTER: Mei W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3653556 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature