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BMP-4-responsive regulation of dorsal–ventral patterning by the homeobox protein Mix.1

Nature volume 382, pages 357–360 (1996)Cite this article

Abstract

IN an expression screen for factors that pattern or induce ventral mesoderm, we isolated a complementary DNA encoding Mix.1, a paired class homeobox gene with no previously known function1. Injection of Mix.1 messenger RNA results in extensive blood formation in the whole embryo and transforms dorsal mesoderm to a ventral fate. Mix.1 expression is induced by bone morphogenetic protein-4 (BMP-4), and a dominant inhibitory mutant of Mix.1 can restore a dorsal axis in embryos ventralized by ectopic BMP-4 expression. Mix.1 can form heterodimers with the dorsalizing gene siamois, which encodes a homeodomain protein that is structurally similar to Mix.1. Furthermore, Mix.1 blocks the duplicated axis induced by ectopic siamois expression. Our findings indicate that Mix.1 participates in a BMP-4 signalling pathway to pattern ventral mesoderm, and suggest a model whereby dimerization of homeodomain proteins regulates dorsal–ventral patterning.

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Author notes

  1. Iman H. Brivanlou

    Present address: Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Hematology/Oncology, Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Enders 650, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, USA

    Paul E. Mead, Iman H. Brivanlou, Clair M. Kelley & Leonard I. Zon

  2. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Avenue, Enders 650, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, USA

    Paul E. Mead & Leonard I. Zon

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  1. Paul E. Mead
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  3. Clair M. Kelley
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  4. Leonard I. Zon
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Mead, P., Brivanlou, I., Kelley, C. et al. BMP-4-responsive regulation of dorsal–ventral patterning by the homeobox protein Mix.1. Nature 382, 357–360 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/382357a0

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