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Is Chordin a morphogen?
Author(s) -
Hama Joanne,
Weinstein Daniel C.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/1521-1878(200102)23:2<121::aid-bies1018>3.0.co;2-r
Subject(s) - chordin , morphogen , gastrulation , ectoderm , mesoderm , biology , endoderm , microbiology and biotechnology , bone morphogenetic protein , embryo , germ layer , polarity in embryogenesis , embryogenesis , embryonic stem cell , genetics , induced pluripotent stem cell , gene
Models employing gradients of diffusible morphogens are often invoked to explain regional specification in the early embryo. In these models, a concentration gradient of a secreted factor generates distinct cell fates, based on the differential response of cells to local concentrations of this morphogen. In recent years, there has been a great deal of focus on the factors involved in the dorsoventral patterning of the vertebrate mesoderm and ectoderm. Dorsoventral specification during amphibian gastrulation is regulated by the antagonistic actions of the Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMPs) and a number of dorsally expressed inhibitors, including the secreted factor, Chordin. In a recent paper,(1) Blitz and colleagues explore the possibility that Chordin acts as a long‐range factor in the amphibian gastrula embryo, to establish a functional gradient of BMP activity. BioEssays 23:121–124, 2001. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.