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XB-ART-19774
Mol Cell Biol 1995 May 01;155:2625-34. doi: 10.1128/MCB.15.5.2625.
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Identification of distinct classes and functional domains of Wnts through expression of wild-type and chimeric proteins in Xenopus embryos.

Du SJ , Purcell SM , Christian JL , McGrew LL , Moon RT .


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Wnts are secreted signaling factors which influence cell fate and cell behavior in developing embryos. Overexpression in Xenopus laevis embryos of a Xenopus Wnt, Xwnt-8, leads to a duplication of the embryonic axis. In embryos ventralized by UV irradiation, Xwnt-8 restores expression of the putative transcription factor goosecoid, and rescues normal axis formation. In contrast, overexpression of Xwnt-5A in normal embryos generates defects in dorsoanterior structures, without inducing goosecoid or a secondary axis. To determine whether Xwnt-4 and Xwnt-11 fall into one of these two previously described classes of activity, synthetic mRNAs were introduced into animal caps, normal embryos, and UV-treated embryos. The results indicate that Xwnt-4, Xwnt-5A, and Xwnt-11 are members of a single functional class with activities that are indistinguishable in these assays. To investigate whether distinct regions of Xwnt-8 and Xwnt-5A were sufficient for eliciting the observed effects of overexpression, we generated a series of chimeric Xwnts. RNAs encoding the chimeras were injected into normal and UV-irradiated Xenopus embryos. Analysis of the embryonic phenotypes and goosecoid levels reveals that chimeras composed of carboxy-terminal regions of Xwnt-8 and amino-terminal regions of Xwnt-5A are indistinguishable from the activities of native Xwnt-8 and that are the reciprocal chimeras elicit effects indistinguishable from overexpression of native Xwnt-5A. We conclude that the carboxy-terminal halves of these Xwnts are candidate domains for specifying responses to Xwnt signals.

???displayArticle.pubmedLink??? 7739543
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Species referenced: Xenopus laevis
Genes referenced: gsc wnt11b wnt4 wnt5a wnt8a

References [+] :
Baker, Embryonic and imaginal requirements for wingless, a segment-polarity gene in Drosophila. 1988, Pubmed