Expression of chick BMP-1/Tolloid during patterning of the neural tube and somites

The expression pattern described here is that of the chick BMP-1/Tolloid family of secreted metalloproteinases during early stages of development. BMP-1/Tolloid transcripts are expressed in the blastoderm, at gastrulation stages and as the neural plate forms and neural tube folds, BMP-1/Tolloid is found at the neural plate/ectodermal transition. Expression is maintained in the premigratory neural crest, and transiently in the migrating cephalic neural crest cells. BMP-1/Tolloid is also expressed in the caudal, but not in the anterior notochord, and in the ventral neural tube at the time of dorso-ventral patterning. Further sites of BMP-1/Tolloid expression are the lateral plate mesoderm and the dermotome and the myotome of the somites. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.