Induction of a Secondary Body Axis in Xenopus by Antibodies to β-Catenin

• Published in: The Journal of cell biology Vol. 123; no. 2; pp. 477 - 484
• Main Authors: McCrea, Pierre D., Brieher, William M., Gumbiner, Barry M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Rockefeller University Press 01.10.1993; The Rockefeller University Press
• Subjects: Animals; Antibodies; Antibody Specificity; Armadillos; beta Catenin; Biological and medical sciences; Cadherins; Cadherins - analysis; Cell adhesion; Cell Adhesion - drug effects; Cell Adhesion - physiology; Cell Division - drug effects; Cell Division - physiology; Cell lines; Cells; Cytoskeletal Proteins - analysis; Cytoskeletal Proteins - immunology; Cytoskeletal Proteins - physiology; Drosophila; Embryo, Mammalian - chemistry; Embryo, Mammalian - physiology; Embryo, Nonmammalian; Embryology: invertebrates and vertebrates. Teratology; Embryonic and Fetal Development - drug effects; Embryonic and Fetal Development - physiology; Embryos; Epithelial cells; Female; Freshwater; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene Expression; Growth Substances - genetics; Growth Substances - physiology; Humans; Immunoglobulin Fab Fragments - administration & dosage; Immunoglobulin Fab Fragments - immunology; Immunoglobulin Fab Fragments - pharmacology; Microinjections; Molecular embryology; Phenotype; Phenotypes; Trans-Activators; Xenopus laevis; Xenopus laevis - embryology; Xenopus laevis - physiology; Xenopus Proteins; Proteins; Embryonic development; Vertebrata; Embryo; Xenopus laevis; Amphibia; Toad; Cell cell interaction; Salientia; Gene expression; Adhesion
• ISSN: 0021-9525; 1540-8140
• DOI: 10.1083/jcb.123.2.477

We have obtained evidence that a known intracellular component of the cadherin cell-cell adhesion machinery, β-catenin, contributes to the development of the body axis in the frog Xenopus laevis. Vertebrate β-catenin is homologus to the Drosophila segment polarity gene product armadillo, and to vertebrate plakoglobin. β-Catenin was found present in all Xenopus embryonic stages examined, and associated with C-cadherin, the major cadherin present in early Xenopus embryos. To test β-catenin's function, affinity purified Fab fragments were injected into ventral blastomeres of developing four-cell Xenopus embryos. A dramatic phenotype, the duplication of the dorsoanterior embryonic axis, was observed. Furthermore, Fab injections were capable of rescuing dorsal features in UV-ventralized embryos. Similar phenotypes have been observed in misexpression studies of the Wnt and other gene products, suggesting that β-catenin participates in a signaling pathway which specifies embryonic patterning.