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Developmental biology

SMAD proteins and mammalian anatomy

Nature volume 393, pages 737–739 (1998)Cite this article

How does the mammalian body plan, with its different anatomical structures and varied tissues, arise during development? The patterns and anatomical changes that occur have been well described, but the cell-made factors and signalling mechanisms that drive these changes have been more elusive. A paper by Nomura and Li1 on page 786 of this issue and reports in Cell2 and Genes and Development3 describe some of these factors and show that the signal transducers Smad2 and Smad4 are vital in early development.

Studies of the phenotypes of Smad2-defective mice1,2 now reveal that Smad2 signalling is essential for embryonic mesoderm formation and the establishment of anterior-posterior polarity. Nomura and Li1 report the absence of mesoderm in Smad2-deficient embryos, and Waldrip et al.2 see extra-embryonic mesoderm without formation of embryonic mesoderm, suggesting a less severe phenotype. These differences in phenotype may be due to differences in genetic background or in the strategy used by the authors to target the Smad2 gene for deletion. Smad2 is also required to establish the anterior-posterior polarity, probably because of its function in restricting the site of primitive-streak formation. So Smad2 signalling is one of the earliest-known events required for the formation of mesoderm and anterior-posterior patterning.

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Figure 1: Signalling through SMAD proteins.
Figure 2: Representation of a mouse embryo at early gastrulation (embryonic day of development 6.5), indicating the different cell layers.

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  1. The Departments of Growth and Development, and of Anatomy, Programs in Cell Biology and Developmental Biology, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, 94143-0640, California, USA

    Rik Derynck

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Derynck, R. SMAD proteins and mammalian anatomy. Nature 393, 737–739 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/31593

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