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The dynamic temporal and spatial regulation of BMP signalling during early vertebrate development

Reichert, S; (2014) The dynamic temporal and spatial regulation of BMP signalling during early vertebrate development. Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London). Green open access

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Abstract

During embryonic development multipotent cells are specified to give rise to the different tissues of the body. This process depends on a tightly controlled network of signalling pathways. Importantly, tissues, which require differential activity of these pathways, can be induced in close proximity, thus suggesting an intricate spatial and temporal control of pathway activation. One of the pathways crucial for tissue specification is the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signalling pathway. Its role in the patterning of the ectoderm is well understood during gastrulation but unclear for later stages of development. Using zebrafish and Xenopus as model organisms, I investigated the spatial and temporal control of BMP activity after gastrulation at the border of the neural plate as progenitor cells emerge that give rise to cell types such as melanocytes and smooth muscle cells, as well as the olfactory epithelium and the lens. I identified new players that regulate the formation of distinct domains of BMP signalling and thereby enable the specification of adjacent tissues with different requirements for BMP activity. Previously, Snw1 was identified as a crucial factor for neural crest specification during development. Overexpression and depletion of Snw1 in Xenopus and zebrafish embryos leads to a loss of the neural crest cell population. Snw1 was identified as a regulator of BMP activity at the neural plate border, but not as a core component of the pathway downstream of the receptor. Snw1 is involved in a step between transcription and expression of the BMP ligands and since depletion of Snw1 in zebrafish increases bmp2b ligand transcription but prevents expression of the protein. I have further dissected the function of Snw1 and shown that Snw1 is in a complex with components of splicing machinery, as well as several chromatin remodeling and transcriptional elongation factors. I have used RNAseq to identify additional Snw1 targets.

Type: Thesis (Doctoral)
Title: The dynamic temporal and spatial regulation of BMP signalling during early vertebrate development
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Language: English
UCL classification: UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Cell and Developmental Biology
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1420539
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