| Budget Amount *help |
¥2,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,000,000)
Fiscal Year 1994: ¥600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000)
Fiscal Year 1993: ¥1,400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000)
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| Research Abstract |
In Xenopus laevis embryogenesis, cell-cell interactions are essential for patern formation, in which several growth factors such as TGF-beta superfamily and FGF family members have been shown to play important functions. Among TGF-beta superfamily members, activin has been known to be one of the most potent in amphibian embryos. In order to obtain a clue to understanding the roles of activin and especially to clarify developmental control of its activity, we examined activin and two activin-binding proteins, activin receptors and follistatin with some aspects and obtained the results as described below. 1)From the analysis of their spatial expression pattern, it is found that only folistatin mRNA showed quite a restricted pattern of expression, indicating that follistain may have a function for the restriction of activin activity in embryogenesis. 2)To analyze the molecular mechanism of the regulation of follistatin expression, we isolated the follistatin gene and determined its nucleotide sequence. 3)Using microinjection of wild-type and dominant negative type of activin receptor, we examined the functin of activin and the competence of blastomeres for activin. The results suggested that activin system plays important function in mesoderm induction and that each blastomeres at early cleavage stage has different competence for activin.
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