Curr Top Dev Biol 2016 Jan 01;116:231-45. doi: 10.1016/bs.ctdb.2015.10.003.

The Chordin Morphogenetic Pathway.

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The ancestral Chordin/bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling pathway that establishes dorsal-ventral (D-V) patterning in animal development is one of the best understood morphogenetic gradients, and is established by multiple proteins that interact with each other in the extracellular space-including several BMPs, Chordin, Tolloid, Ont-1, Crossveinless-2, and Sizzled. The D-V gradient is adjusted redundantly by regulating the synthesis of its components, by direct protein-protein interactions between morphogens, and by long-range diffusion. The entire embryo participates in maintaining the D-V BMP gradient, so that for each action in the dorsal side there is a reaction in the ventral side. A gradient of Chordin is formed in the extracellular matrix that separates ectoderm from endomesoderm, called Brachet's cleft in Xenopus. The Chordin/BMP pathway is self-organizing and able to scale pattern in the dorsal half of bisected embryos or in Spemann dorsal lip transplantation experiments.

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Species referenced: Xenopus
Genes referenced: bmp1 chrd szl