8 Transcriptional Regulation during Somitogenesis

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0070-2153(08)60760-7Get rights and content

Publisher Summary

This chapter discusses the biochemical mechanisms involved in the regulation of transcription during the development of the mouse embryo. General approach for this study involves taking genes known to act at a fairly high level in a particular genetic pathway and then to try to understand how their transcription is controlled using the power of transgenic mouse technology. In each case the objective is to identify of each of the transcription factors that control the chosen regulatory gene. It is reported that segmental identity in the vertebrate embryo is controlled by the four clusters of Hox genes. Therefore, the chapter analyzes the regulation of one such gene, Hoxb-4. One of the earliest transcriptional responses in the epithelial somite is the activation of the cascade of basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors that together regulate the commitment of skeletal myoblasts and their subsequent differentiation. Although there is a considerable knowledge of genes that function during somitogenesis, it is clear that many more such genes remain unknown and one has therefore sought to develop techniques that may allow the discovery of novel genes that act during defined aspects of the process.

References (65)

  • S.N. Maity et al.

    Role of the CCAAT-binding protein CBF/NF-Y in transcription

    Trends Biochem. Sci.

    (1998)
  • A. Mansouri et al.

    Pax genes and their roles in cell differentiation and development

    Curr. Opin. Cell Biol.

    (1996)
  • J.D. Molkentin et al.

    Denning the regulatory networks for muscle development

    Curr. Opin. Genet. Dev.

    (1996)
  • C. Murre et al.

    Interactions between heterologous helix-loop-helix proteins generate complexes that bind specifically to a common DNA sequence

    Cell

    (1989)
  • E.N. Olson et al.

    Know your neighbors: Three phe-notypes in null mutants of the myogenic bHLH Gene MRF4

    Cell

    (1996)
  • M.A. Rudnicki et al.

    Inactivation of MyoD in mice leads to up-regulation of the myogenic HLH gene Myf-5 and results in apparently normal muscle development

    Cell

    (1992)
  • M.A. Rudnicki et al.

    MyoD or Myf-5 is required for the formation of skeletal muscle

    Cell

    (1993)
  • S. Tajbakhsh et al.

    Redefining the genetic hierarchies controlling skeletal myogenesis: Pax-3 and Myf-5 act upstream of MyoD

    Cell

    (1997)
  • K.S. Yun et al.

    Skeletal-muscle determination and differentiation—Story of a core regulatory network and its context

    Curr. Opin. Cell Biol.

    (1996)
  • R. Zweigerdt et al.

    Faithful expression of the Myf-5 gene during mouse myogenesis requires distant control regions: A transgene approach using yeast artificial chromosomes

    Dev. Biol.

    (1997)
  • S. Aparicio et al.

    Detecting conserved regulatory elements with the model genome of the Japanese puffer fish

    Fugu mbripes. Proc. Natl. Acad. Set, U.S.A.

    (1995)
  • H.H. Arnold et al.

    Targeted inactivation of myogenic factor genes reveals their role during mouse myogenesis: A review

    Int. J. Dev. Biol.

    (1996)
  • E. Bober et al.

    The muscle regulatory gene

    Myf-6, has a biphasic pattern of expression during early mouse development.J. Cell Biol.

    (1991)
  • E. Bober et al.

    Pax-3 is required for the development of limb muscles: A possible role for the migration of dermomyotomal muscle progenitor cells

    Development

    (1994)
  • M.S. Bradshaw et al.

    A long-range regulatory element of Hox-c8 identified by using the pClasper vector

    Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

    (1996)
  • T. Braun et al.

    Myf-5 and myoD genes are activated in distinct mesenchymal stem cells and determine different skeletal muscle cell lineages

    EMBO J.

    (1996)
  • T. Braun et al.

    Inhibition of muscle differentiation by the adenovirus Ela protein: Repression of the transcriptional activating function of the HLH protein Myf-5

    Genes Dev.

    (1992)
  • T.J. Brennan et al.

    Myogenin resides in the nucleus and acquires high affinity for a conserved enhancer element on heterodimerization

    Genes Dev.

    (1990)
  • S. Brenner et al.

    Characterization of the pufferfish (Fugu) genome as a compact model vertebrate genome

    Nature

    (1993)
  • A.F. Candia et al.

    Differential localization of Mox-1 and Mox-2 proteins indicates distinct roles during development

    Int. J. Dev. Biol.

    (1996)
  • T.C. Cheng et al.

    Separable regulatory elements governing myogenin transcription in mouse embryogenesis

    Science

    (1993)
  • B. Christ et al.

    Early stages of chick somite development

    Anal. Embryol.

    (1995)
  • Cited by (14)

    • Early transcriptional targets of MyoD link myogenesis and somitogenesis

      2012, Developmental Biology
      Citation Excerpt :

      The timing of the analysis in the zebrafish study was at somite stages, while our work analysed gene expression at gastrula stages and it is possible that the regulatory relationships among the MRFs are different at earlier stages. A single element upstream of Xmyf5, containing the E-box identified in Fig. 5, has been shown to be necessary and sufficient for correct Xmyf5 expression during gastrula stages in Xenopus (Polli and Amaya, 2002), while in mouse there are multiple interdigitated control sequences required for myf5 expression during somite stages (Summerbell and Rigby, 2000). Another gene we found to require MyoD for its expression is Seb4, which has previously been recognised as having a role in myogenesis (Li et al., 2010).

    • Early Embryonic Mesoderm Development

      2004, Handbook of Stem Cells
    • The protocadherin PAPC establishes segmental boundaries during somitogenesis in Xenopus embryos

      2000, Current Biology
      Citation Excerpt :

      How cells are assigned to segments in the paraxial mesoderm and how this information is used to generate distinct morphological structures are unanswered questions in developmental biology. Recent studies over the last several years indicate that segmental patterning of the PSM is mediated by components of the Notch signaling pathway, by the Hairy-like WRPW–bHLH proteins, and by bHLH transcription factors of the Mesp family (reviewed in [2–4]). These genes are expressed within the PSM in dynamic patterns that prefigure the subsequent morphological changes associated with segmentation.

    • Epigenetics in skeletal muscle development

      2011, Cancer Epigenetics: Biomolecular Therapeutics in Human Cancer
    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text