Abstract
Inductive cell interactions are essential in early embryonic development, but virtually nothing is known about the molecular mechanisms involved1,2. Recently factors resembling fibroblast growth factor3–6 and transforming growth factor-β4–6 were shown to be involved in mesoderm induction in Xenopus laevis, suggesting that membrane receptor-mediated signal transduction is important in induction processes. Here we report direct measurements of protein kinase C (PKC) activity in uninduced ectoderm, and in neuroectoderm shortly after induction by the involuting mesoderm, in Xenopus laevis embryos. Membrane-bound PKC activity increased three to fourfold in the induced neuroectoderm while the cytosolic PKC activity was decreasing, indicating that PKC activity was translocated during neural induction. A similar time- and dose-dependent translocation of activity was seen after incubation with the PKC activator 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate7, which also induced neural tissue in competent ectoderm, suggesting that PKC is involved in the response to the endogenous inducing signal during neural induction.
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Otte, A., Koster, C., Snoek, G. et al. Protein kinase C mediates neural induction in Xenopus laevis. Nature 334, 618–620 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/334618a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/334618a0
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