Mechanisms to establish the gradient of BMP signal by extracellular factors

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24570238
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Developmental biology
• Research Institution: Tokyo Metropolitan University
• Principal Investigator: FUKUDA KIMIKO 首都大学東京, 理工学研究科, 准教授 (40285094)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 内胚葉 / 消化管 / 肝臓 / 胃 / BMPシグナル

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Presumptive lung, stomach and liver endoderm are regionalized in the ventral foregut anterio-posterioly. There are reports showing BMP signals are important for their specification, while mechanisms of regulation of BMP signaling in the foregut endoderm is largely unknown. We found that BMP signaling activity in the foregut endoderm has two peaks, at the lung and the liver endoderm. It is revealed that sizzled inhibits BMP signaling in the stomach region, promotes stomach differentiation and restricts liver regionalization at the caudal-most endoderm in the foregut. APOA1, a member of the apolipoproteins, was expressed in the presumptive liver endoderm. We showed that APOA1 was essential to induce Hex, liver maker, in the liver endoderm and that APOA1 could enhance BMP signaling cell-autonomously. APOA1 was induced by BMP signaling. Taken together, positive feedback between APOA1 and BMP signaling enhances BMP signaling which is required for the liver differentiation.

Free Research Field

発生生物学