Alx1, a member of the Cart1/Alx3/Alx4 subfamily of Paired-class homeodomain proteins, is an essential component of the gene network controlling skeletogenic fate specification in the sea urchin embryo
Open accessAbstract
In the sea urchin embryo, the large micromeres and their progeny function as a critical signaling center and execute a complex morphogenetic program. We have identified a new and essential component of the gene network that controls large micromere specification, the homeodomain protein Alx1. Alx1 is expressed exclusively by cells of the large micromere lineage beginning in the first interphase after the large micromeres are born. Morpholino studies demonstrate that Alx1 is essential at an early stage of specification and controls downstream genes required for epithelial-mesenchymal transition and biomineralization. Expression of Alx1 is cell autonomous and regulated maternally through β-catenin and its downstream effector, Pmar1. Alx1 expression can be activated in other cell lineages at much later stages of development, however, through a regulative pathway of skeletogenesis that is responsive to cell signaling. The Alx1 protein is highly conserved among euechinoid sea urchins and is closely related to the Cart1/Alx3/Alx4 family of vertebrate homeodomain proteins. In vertebrates, these proteins regulate the formation of skeletal elements of the limbs, face and neck. Our findings suggest that the ancestral deuterostome had a population of biomineral-forming mesenchyme cells that expressed an Alx1-like protein.
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Members of the Cart1/Alx3/Alx4 family of homeodomain proteins are known to regulate formation of skeletal elements in organisms ranging from sea urchin to mammals.
“Members of the Cart1/Alx3/Alx4 family of homeodomain proteins are known to regulate formation of skeletal elements in organisms ranging from sea urchin to mammals [86], [87].”
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- Guss, K. A. (1997). An Analysis of Gene Expression During Skeletal Morphogenesis in the Sea Urchin Embryo . PhD thesis, Carnegie Mellon University.
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- Authors
- Ettensohn, C. A., Illies, M. R., Oliveri, P., & De Jong, D. L.
- Affiliations
- Carnegie Mellon University (US)
- California Institute of Technology (US)
- Department of Biological Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, 4400 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
- Corresponding author
- Ettensohn, Charles A.
- Oliveri, Paola
- Venue
- Development
- Publisher
- The Company of Biologists
- Published
- 2003-07-01
- Volume
- 130
- Issue
- 13
- Pages
- 2917-2928
- ISSN
- 0950-1991 (ISSN-L)
- 1477-9129
- OpenAlex
- W2114541039
- Cited by
- 207
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 2.64
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- figshare.com
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Development (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- CaltechAUTHORS (California Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- KiltHub Repository (submittedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- KiltHub Repository
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Aquatic Science › Echinoderm biology and ecology
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Wnt/β-catenin signaling in development and cancer
- Keywords
- ALX1, sea urchin embryo, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, biomineralization, β-catenin signaling, deuterostome evolution, mesenchyme
- MeSH terms
- Amino Acid Sequence, Animals, Calcification, Physiologic, Mesoderm, Models, Biological, Molecular Sequence Data, Morphogenesis, Phylogeny, RNA, Messenger, Sea Urchins, Oligonucleotides, Antisense, In Situ Hybridization, Homeodomain Proteins, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Cell Lineage
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