Module 2 Flashcards
Why are gastrulation movements so different among different vertebrates?
Eggs are different sizes, Gastrulation is also very different but after the phylotypic stage, The start to look similar
What is the phylotypic stage?
The stage where embryos of different species begin to look morphologically similar to each other
What are characteristic features of the embryo at specific developmental stages? e.g., fertilization, cleavage stage, blastula stage
Fertilization:
- Cortical rotation
- Caused by actin polymerization which specifies nieuwkoop center that creates DV axis (uses dorsalizing factor Dvl to make gradient)
- Vitelline membrane lift
Cleavage Stage:
- Synchronous cell division
- No zygotic gene expression, only maternal
Blastula Stage:
- Zygotic genome activation at MBT (mid blastula stage) = cells are specified
- Induction of mesoderm (nodal -> Dorsal mesoderm. BMP -> ventral mesoderm)
- 3 germ layers are present
Describe the Saimois Cascade
- Wnt ligand activates Dvl which inhibits GSK3
- Dvl stabilizes Beta-Catenin in dorsal cells
- Wnt + Beta-Catenin moves nucleus and regulates transcription of Siamois gene
What are characteristic features of the embryo at specific developmental stages?
e.g., gastrula stage, neurula stage and tailbud stage.
Gastrula Stage: Involution
- Germ layer rearrangement
- AP axis established
- Neural induction begins
- Forms future gut
Neurula Stage:
- Appearance of neural fold
- Neural tube formation
- Neural crest cells are born
Tailbud Stage:
- Somitogenesis
- Sensory organ precursor formation
- Neural crest cell migration
- 24 hours
What happens during cortical rotation? What is the significance of breaking the radial symmetry after fertilization?
- Actin polymerization disturbs vegetal region to mix materials toward the equatorial region = breaks radial symmetry
- Specifies the Nieuwkoop center that forms on the opposite side of where sperm entered.
- Allows dorsalizing factors (Dvl: disheveled) which allows B-catenin accumulation in nucleus which will bind to receptors and activate the siamois gene to cause dorsalization
What is the difference between Nieuwkoop center and Organizer?
Comprehend the action of Wnt signaling pathway and how the siamois gene is activated.
- Cortical rotation after fertilization causes the dorsalizing factor (Dvl) to move to the dorsal end of the embryo
- If Wnt ligand is present, it activates Dvl and inhibits GSK3. Since it is inhibited, GSK3 cannot degrade B catenin, so we have lots of Bcatenin available
- Bcatenin can now move into nucleus and turn on siamois gene that is expressed in Nieuwkoop center
+ B catenin is NOT a tf
+ If siamois was off: NO HEAD
How is fate mapping done in Xenopus embryos? Why is fate mapping important?
- Inject high molecular weight dyes into certain cells in the 32 cell blastula stage and observe its final identity after it has fully developed
- Also showed cells were specified already in the blastula stage
- Shows future property of cell behavior
- Shows the cellular potential and potency of a cell
What tissues originate from each germ layer?
- ABC: ectoderm (animal region) -> epidermis/epidermal derivatives, nervous system
- BC: mesoderm -> notochord, somites (muscle), lateral plate mesoderm (heart, kidney), blood islands (vascular system)
- CD: endoderm (vegetal region) -> gut (epithelial gut lining of trachea, lungs, salivary glands, liver, pancreas)
What evidence supports the notion that mesoderm is actually induced by endoderm.
- A piece of the ectoderm becomes the epidermis
- A piece of mesenchyme becomes ventral mesoderm
- A piece of notochord becomes dorsal mesoderm
- A piece of vegetal tissue becomes endoderm
Comprehend both BMP and TGF-signaling pathways.
- Mesoderm induction from the endoderm requires a signal from the vegetal (yolky)region. Evidence: when animal and vegetal explants are separated by a filter, induction of mesoderm still occurs, showing that the mesoderm inducing signal is a small diffusible molecule (Nodal and BMP)
- There are 2 different mesoderm that are independently regulated inducing signals:
What evidence supports that mesoderm inducing factor is a member of the TGFb signaling family?
- If you injected a mutant TGFb/Nodal type 1 receptor mrna (truncated receptor missing kinase bottom domain) into a 2 cell stage embryo, you don’t get proper mesoderm formation showing that nodal signaling is required
- You don’t even get a signal if you have 1 defective receptor attached to 1 normal one bc this is a dominant negative mutation.
What is a dominant negative mutant? How is it different from regular loss-of-function
mutation?
- A mutation that prevents the normal wt gene product even though it interacts with other elements and it can still dimerize. So, set up can still occur but you don’t get the original wt gene product so you don’t get the signal.
- It is different from a regular LOF
Comprehend the molecular steps leading to gastrulation.
- Midblastula stage: bcatenin AND VegT-> Mesoderm induction: -> high nodal -> Gastrulastage: dorsal mesoderm -> organizer
- Midblastula stage: Vegt only -> Mesoderm induction: -> low nodal -> Gastrula Stage:ventral mesoderm
Distinguish between Archenteron and blastocoel
- Archenteron: future gut cavity in animal pole (top) seen in the late gastrula stage
- Blastocoel: cavity in vegetal region (bottom) that appears in late gastrula stage and disappears later
What are three major morphogenic movements that control gastrulation movements?
- Involution: sheets of cells corresponding to future mesoderm and endoderm roll into gastrula through the blastopore
- Conversion: once inside blastopore, mesodermal and endodermal cells converge
- Extension: they then extend under the dorsal ectoderm
How do prechodal plate mesoderm and chordamesoderm migrate during gastrulation?
- Mesoderm under the ectoderm has some power to specify tissue of ectoderm
- Prechordal plate mesoderm = anterior mesoderm: induces 2nd head, produces Noggin and Chordin BLOCK BMP to make neuroectoderm
- Chordamesoderm = posterior mesoderm: induces a 2nd trunk, produces WNT and retinoic acid to make trunk
What are the functions of prechordal plate mesoderm and chordamesoderm?
- Prechordial plate mesoderm will give rise to head structures in the embryo. Plays a role in facial structure. (mesenchymal cells)
- Chordamesoderm gives rise to the central nervous system (notochord cells). Also helps with formation of neural tube which becomes brain and spine
Visualize the 3D movments of amphibian gatrulation.
What is the significance of the organizer transplantation?
- Organizer induces the body’s axis by recruiting host tissues. (AP axis formation)
Which tissues are induced by the organizer? How was that shown?
+ Notochord is all donor derived
+ Somites are both donor and host derived
+ Nervous system is all host derived
- Was shown by taking a piece of the organizer tissue from a donor and transplanting it into a host cell during gastrulation stage which resulted in forming a secondary axis
How is neural tissue induced in the early xenopus embryo?
- The organizer and prechordal plate mesoderm secretes the neural inducers called noggin and chordin. When expressed, they block BMP so ectoderm -> neuroectoderm
- If there is no noggin and chordin, BMP is not blocked and turns the ectoderm -> epidermis
Compare between Xenopus and drosophila neural induction and identify the roles of Noggin and Chordin.
- Frog: noggin and chordin are secreted by organizer and prechordal plate mesoderm which block BMP activity so that the ectoderm -> neuroectoderm