Int. J. Dev. Biol. 50: 575 - 579 (2006)

https://doi.org/10.1387/ijdb.062141as

Vol 50, Issue 6

Developmental expression of Shisa-2 in Xenopus laevis

Developmental Expression Pattern | Published: 1 June 2006

Ana-Cristina Silva^1,2, Mário Filipe¹, Marta Vitorino², Herbert Steinbeisser³ and José-António Belo*^,1,2

¹Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal, ²Centro de Biomedicina Molecular e Estrutural, Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal and ³Institute of Human Genetics, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

Abstract

Shisa is an antagonist of Wnt and FGF signaling, that functions cell autonomously in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to inhibit the post-translational maturation of Wnt and FGF receptors. In this paper we report the isolation of a second Xenopus shisa gene (Xshisa-2). Xenopus Shisa-2 shows 30.7% identity to Xshisa. RT-PCR analysis indicated that Xshisa-2 mRNA is present throughout early development and shows an increased expression during neurula and tailbud stages. At neurula stages Xenopus shisa-2 is initially expressed in the presomitic paraxial mesoderm and later in the developing somites. The expression profiles and pattern of Xshisa and Xshisa-2 differ significantly. During gastrulation only Xshisa mRNA is present in the Spemann-Mangold organizer and later on becomes restricted to the neuroectoderm and the prechordal plate.

Keywords

Xenopus, shisa, presomitic mesoderm, somite