Journal
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY OF THE CELL
Volume 19, Issue 5, Pages 2289-2299Publisher
AMER SOC CELL BIOLOGY
DOI: 10.1091/mbc.E07-12-1286
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan [18657065, 17048034]
- Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research [18657065, 17048034] Funding Source: KAKEN
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Although Rho-GTPases are well-known regulators of cytoskeletal reorganization, their in vivo distribution and physiological functions have remained elusive. In this study, we found marked apical accumulation of Rho in developing chick embryos undergoing folding of the neural plate during neural tube formation, with similar accumulation of activated myosin II. The timing of accumulation and biochemical activation of both Rho and myosin II was coincident with the dynamics of neural tube formation. Inhibition of Rho disrupted its apical accumulation and led to defects in neural tube formation, with abnormal morphology of the neural plate. Continuous activation of Rho also altered neural tube formation. These results indicate that correct spatiotemporal regulation of Rho is essential for neural tube morphogenesis. Furthermore, we found that a key morphogenetic signaling pathway, the Wnt/PCP pathway, was implicated in the apical accumulation of Rho and regulation of cell shape in the neural plate, suggesting that this signal may be the spatiotemporal regulator of Rho in neural tube formation.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available