Developmental Exam 3 Flashcards
Why can you not work on embryos past gastrulation?
Gastrulation is the point where you get germ layers, cells do things
Functions of frog blastocoel
Allows space for cells to move during gastrulation
Separates layer of cells. Bottom and top separated. Prevents them from interacting
How do cells cleave?
From top to bottom. (From animal side to vegetal side on the bottom)
What does gastrulation achieve?
Establishes three germ layers: endo, meso, ecto
Sets up basic body plan and axes
The morphogenetic movements bring cells into new positions which allows inductive interactions
Steps of gastrulation
- Start with late blastula stage. Blastocoel in animal pole.
- Dorsal blastopore lip (opposite side of where the sperm attached) cells move into blastocoel space along the ectoderm.
The animal pole is moved towards the vegetal pole. Blastocoel is displaced to the ventral side. Space is made from the dorsal blastopore lip called the archenteron and is made from gastrulation movement. Cells are lead by the protein fibronectin. - The ventral blastopore lip moves around until it is on the dorsal side with the dorsal side lip. Have blastopore lip, lateral blastopore lip and ventral blastopore lip on the dorsal side of the organism. Eventually this part of the yolk is plugged. Fibronectin discontinues when the endoderm and not the mesoderm cells are moving. When the endoderm cells are moving a new mechanism takes over called convergent extension.
- Blastopore cavity is filled with internalized endoderm. The yolk starts to plug. Mesenchyme is created between the ectoderm and the endoderm
Tissue movement during (amphibian gastrulation) in order
- Invagination- inward pushing of cells
- Involution- Cell that invaginated are “rolling”/moving (migration) inward to form an underlying layer. Future endoderm/mesoderm rolling in.
- Convergent extension- causes narrowing and lengthening of mesoderm during gastrulation. Directional cell intercalation- rows of cells move between one another
- Epiboly- sheets of epithelial cells spreading by thinning by radical intercalation. Creates tissue that is thinner/longer in different directions. 3D. Makes butt-hole.
Migration of endoderm during gastrulation does what to mesoderm?
Endoderm cells migration “pulls” mesoderm in
The pharyngeal endoderm move out of the way to allow invagination and involution. They move along blastocoel and pull “bottle” cell inward
What group of cells are the first ones to involute?
Chordamesoderm (determines nervous system) and the mesoderm
Where does migration of endoderm and mesoderm (involution) happen first?
At the blastopore
What directs cell migration during gastrulation?
Fibronectin
Does not go around all the way.
How is gastrulation initiated?
It begins at the edge of the grey crescent that is not covered by the thick black cytoplasm.
Begins directionally oposite of where sperm binded.
Grey crescent
sperm attaches and centrosome is in that area and then the other is directionally across it. At the top where the sperm attached there is a thick dark cortical cytoplasm and below that is the grey cytoplasm layer. Microtubules cause cortical rotation and the centrosomes rotate 30 degrees. The thick dark cortical cytoplasm rotates 30 degrees with the rotation. They grey cytoplasm does not.
The grey crescent formation key events
- Cytoplasmic reorganization by microtubules
- Cortical rotation of 30 degrees
Outcomes of grey crescent formation
Gastrulation will happen at/just below the grey crescent/directly across from where sperm initially entered
Hans Spemann’s first experiment
Found when you take a hair and gently cause what looks like cytokinesis to an egg, a nuclei will go to one side and others with be on another side which creates two of the organism.
Outcomes of Hans Spemann’s first experiment
Had two normally developed organisms. Happened when both received the grey crescent cells
or
Had one normally developed organism and one “belly piece”. Happened when one received the grey crescent cells.
Therefore something in the grey crescent is important
Spemann’s transplantation experiments
Used different species of newt with different pigmentations
During gastrulation he transplanted tissue from donor newt to host newt. The transplanted tissue was presumptive ectoderm and he placed the transplants in different locations.
ex. More presumptive ectoderm to region of non-neural ectoderm
Spemann’s transplantation experiment when he used presumptive neural ectoderm from early gastrula and replaced it with presumptive epidermis?
Epidermis formed. Cell developed normal neural plate with normal epidermis.
Call regulation since transported cells were regulated by their environment
Cells adopted correct fate for that region
Spemann’s transplantation experiment when he used presumptive neural ectoderm from late gastrula and replaced it with presumptive epidermis?
Neural plate tissue formed. Had a complete neural plate and neural plate tissue.
Therefore the transplanted cells were already committed and could not be regulated by their environment
Transplanted cells maintained original fate
Hilde Mangold Experiment (1921)
Transferred doral blastopore lip (DSL) cells from one early blastula salamander embryo to another.
The DSL cells made another DBL so the organism grew two! Suggests DBL has inductive powers of axis formation via a morphogen on a morphogen gradient
Spemann-Mangold’s Organizer
Dorsal blastopore lip cells are the organizer
How do we know the DBL cells are the organizer?
- Induced host’s ventral tissues to change fate to form a neural tube and dorsal mesoderm
- Organized host and donor tissue into secondary embryo with clear axes
Possible mechanisms for how organizer cells induce cells to be neural cells
- Organizer promotes nearby ectoderm to become neural ectoderm
- Organizer prevents nearby ectoderm from becoming skin
What is the organizer secreting and how does it induce neural development?
Noggin and Chordin mRNA’s are expressed in DBL which prevents neural ectoderm from becoming epidermis
How to test noggin and chordin mRNA’s in relation to DBL?
Misexpress it with different [morphogen]
1. Subjected vegetal pole to UV radiation to mess up MT’s so no cortical rotation can happen. Get ventralized embryo with no dorsal structures (no head, just belly)
2. Inject different [morphogen] of noggin mRNA. Can you rescue the dorsal structures and allow development?
You can with a certain amount of noggin! Therefore more noggin mRNA=more dorsal (head) structures
BMP-4 role
Expressed everywhere else except neural area. Gradient on dorsal side by mesoderm cells below ectoderm. Promotes ectoderm formation into epidermis
BMP-4 and organizer molecules relationship
Organizer molecules block BMP-4 which blocks BMP-4 from cells near the organizer cells
Creates a gradient which results in cells becoming neural
Absence of BMP-4 causes ectoderm to default to neural fate.
Wnt signaling
When Wnt is missing, GSK3 P’s B-catenin which then is broken down in the proteosome. B-catenin cannot be a txn factor and gene stays off.
When Wnt is there, GSK binds to Axin which binds to P’ed membrane protein. B-catenin is free to go be a txn factor and goes to the gene and turns it on.
Beta-catenin activity turns on txn factors that activate organizer genes (Twin, siamois)
These genes become txn factors which activates expression of organizer genes (noggin).
How do Wnt proteins become localized on the dorsal side of the embryo?
Disheveled recruits GSK3 to membrane and away from beta-catenin, Wnt 11 is the Wnt mRNA. Moves to dorsal side by cortical rotation.
Have the GSK binding protein (GBP) attached to kinesin which is moving to the dorsal side on the microtubule.
These molecules move to the dorsal side through cortical rotation and MT translocation via kinesin (faster)
What region induces organizer region?
Niewkwp center
Is the vegetal endoderm that induces organizer
What does Smad2 do?
It activates organizer genes
It is activated by VegT which is a txn factor which activates to expression of activin/nodel which is ligand for another RTK which activates Smad2
Is also activated by Vg1 which is a ligand for another RTK that activates txn factor Smad2
The organizer
- Initiates movements of gastrulation
- Induces formation of the neural ectoderm; neural tube as well
- Becomes dorsal mesoderm. Will become muscle, bone, cartilage.
Neurulation
Formation of nervous system
Formation of neural tube which becomes the nervous system.
What can ectoderm turn into?
Surface ectoderm (epidermis)
BMP levels are high
Neural crest
BMP levels are moderate
Neural plate/neural tube
BMP levels are low, Sox transcription factors expressed
How can a neural tube be formed?
With a sheet of cells or a ball of cells
Sheet of cells is the most common
Secondary Neurulation
Mesenchymal cells aggregate and coalesce into a tube
Less common version