Oligodendrocytes are produced from the same region of the ventral spinal cord that earlier generated motor neurons in bird and rodent embryos. Motor neuron and oligodendrocyte precursor cells express Olig genes, which encode basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors that play important roles in the development of both motor neurons and oligodendrocytes. We found that oligodendrocytes develop similarly in zebrafish embryos, in that they arise from ventral spinal cord and migrate to new positions. Developing primary motor neurons and oligodendrocytes express olig2 as do neural plate cells that give rise to both primary motor neurons and oligodendrocytes. Loss of olig2 function prevented primary motor neuron and oligodendrocyte development, whereas olig2 overexpression promoted formation of excess primary motor neurons and oligodendrocytes. We provide genetic evidence that Hedgehog signaling is required for zebrafish olig2 expression and oligodendrocyte development. However, olig2 overexpression did not promote primary motor neuron or oligodendrocyte development in embryos with reduced Hedgehog signaling activity. One possibility consistent with these data is that Hedgehog signaling, partly by inducing olig2 expression, specifies neural precursor cells that have potential for primary motor neuron or oligodendrocyte fate.

The cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 WAF1/CIP1 is a key regulator of cell-cycle progression and its expression is tightly regulated at the level of transcription and by proteasome-dependent proteolysis. The turnover of p21 WAF1/CIP1 by proteasomes does not always require the ubiquitylation of p21 WAF1/CIP1 suggesting that there could be an alternative pathway into the proteasome. Here we show that the C8 a-subunit of the 20S proteasome interacts with the C-terminus of p21 WAF1/CIP1 and mediates the degradation of p21 WAF1/CIP1 . A small deletion in this region that disrupts binding to C8 increased the half-life of p21 WAF1/CIP1 expressed in vivo. In contrast a deletion that increased the af®nity between C8 and p21 WAF1/CIP1 signi®cantly reduced the stability of the latter. These data suggest that interaction with a 20S proteasome a-subunit is a critical determinant of p21 WAF1/CIP1 turn-over and show how non-ubiquitylated molecules might bypass the 19S regulator of the proteasome and become targeted directly to the 20S, core protease. Consistent with this, p21 WAF1/CIP1 was degraded rapidly by puri®ed 20S proteasomes in a manner that was dependent on the C8-interaction domain.

There is growing evidence that contact inhibition of locomotion (CIL) is essential for morphogenesis and its failure is thought to be responsible for cancer invasion; however, the molecular bases of this phenomenon are poorly understood. Here we investigate the role of the polarity protein Par3 in CIL during migration of the neural crest, a highly migratory mesenchymal cell type. In epithelial cells, Par3 is localised to the cell-cell adhesion complex and is important in the definition of apicobasal polarity, but the localisation and function of Par3 in mesenchymal cells are not well characterised. We show in Xenopus and zebrafish that Par3 is localised to the cell-cell contact in neural crest cells and is essential for CIL. We demonstrate that the dynamics of microtubules are different in different parts of the cell, with an increase in microtubule catastrophe at the collision site during CIL. Par3 loss-of-function affects neural crest migration by reducing microtubule catastrophe at the site of cell-cell contact and abrogating CIL. Furthermore, Par3 promotes microtubule catastrophe by inhibiting the Rac-GEF Trio, as double inhibition of Par3 and Trio restores microtubule catastrophe at the cell contact and rescues CIL and neural crest migration. Our results demonstrate a novel role of Par3 during neural crest migration, which is likely to be conserved in other processes that involve CIL such as cancer invasion or cell dispersion.

SummaryCollective cell migration is fundamental for life and a hallmark of cancer. Neural crest (NC) cells migrate collectively, but the mechanisms governing this process remain controversial. Previous analyses in Xenopus indicate that cranial NC (CNC) cells are a homogeneous population relying on cell-cell interactions for directional migration, while chick embryo analyses suggest a heterogeneous population with leader cells instructing directionality. Our data in chick and zebrafish embryos show that CNC cells do not require leader cells for migration and all cells present similar migratory capacities. In contrast, laser ablation of trunk NC (TNC) cells shows that leader cells direct movement and cell-cell contacts are required for migration. Moreover, leader and follower identities are acquired before the initiation of migration and remain fixed thereafter. Thus, two distinct mechanisms establish the directionality of CNC cells and TNC cells. This implies the existence of multiple molecular mechanisms for collective cell migration.

The vertebrate pharyngeal apparatus, serving the dual functions of feeding and respiration, has its embryonic origin in a series of bulges found on the lateral surface of the head, the pharyngeal arches. Developmental studies have been able to discern how these structures are constructed and this has opened the way for an analysis of how the pharyngeal apparatus was assembled and modified during evolution. For many years, the role of the neural crest in organizing pharyngeal development was emphasized and, as this was believed to be a uniquely vertebrate cell type, it was suggested that the development of the pharyngeal apparatus of vertebrates was distinct from that of other chordates. However, it has now been established that a key event in vertebrate pharyngeal development is the outpocketing of the endoderm to form the pharyngeal pouches. Significantly, outpocketing of the pharyngeal endoderm is a basal deuterostome character and the regulatory network that mediates this process is conserved. Thus, the framework around which the vertebrate pharyngeal apparatus is built is ancient. The pharyngeal arches of vertebrates are, however, more complex and this can be ascribed to these structures being populated by neural crest cells, which form the skeletal support of the pharynx, and mesoderm, which will give rise to the musculature and the arch arteries. Within the vertebrates, as development progresses beyond the phylotypic stage, the pharyngeal apparatus has also been extensively remodelled and this has seemingly involved radical alterations to the developmental programme. Recent studies, however, have shown that these alterations were not as dramatic as previously believed. Thus, while the evolution of amniotes was believed to have involved the loss of gills and their covering, the operculum, it is now apparent that neither of these structures was completely lost. Rather, the gills were transformed into the parathyroid glands and the operculum still exists as an embryonic entity and is still required for the internalization of the posterior pharyngeal arches. Thus, the key steps in our phylogenetic history are laid out during the development of our pharyngeal apparatus.

BackgroundIn mammalian cells, the integrity of the primary cilium is critical for proper regulation of the Hedgehog (Hh) signal transduction pathway. Whether or not this dependence on the primary cilium is a universal feature of vertebrate Hedgehog signalling has remained contentious due, in part, to the apparent divergence of the intracellular transduction pathway between mammals and teleost fish.ResultsHere, using a functional Gli2-GFP fusion protein, we show that, as in mammals, the Gli2 transcription factor localizes to the primary cilia of cells in the zebrafish embryo and that this localization is modulated by the activity of the Hh pathway. Moreover, we show that the Igu/DZIP1protein, previously implicated in the modulation of Gli activity in zebrafish, also localizes to the primary cilium and is required for its proper formation.ConclusionOur findings demonstrate a conserved role of the primary cilium in mediating Hedgehog signalling activity across the vertebrate phylum and validate the use of the zebrafish as a representative model for the in vivo analysis of vertebrate Hedgehog signalling.

SUMMARYThe Alx gene family is implicated in craniofacial development and comprises two to four homeobox genes in each vertebrate genome analyzed. Using phylogenetics and comparative genomics, we show that the common ancestor of jawed vertebrates had three Alx genes descendent from the two-round genome duplications (Alx1, Alx3, Alx4), compared with a single amphioxus gene. Later in evolution one of the paralogues, Alx3, was lost independently from at least three different vertebrate lineages, whereas Alx1 and Alx4 were consistently retained. Comparison of spatial gene expression patterns reveals that the three mouse genes have equivalent craniofacial expression to the two chick and frog genes, suggesting that redundancy compensated for gene loss. We suggest that multiple independent loss of one Alx gene was predisposed by extensive and persistent overlap in gene expression between Alx paralogues. Even so, it is unclear whether it was coincidence or evolutionary bias that resulted in the same Alx gene being lost on each occasion, rather than different members of the gene family.

The operculum is a large flap consisting of several flat bones found on the side of the head of bony fish. During development, the opercular bones form within the second pharyngeal arch, which expands posteriorly and comes to cover the gill-bearing arches. With the evolution of the tetrapods and the assumption of a terrestrial lifestyle, it was believed that the operculum was lost. Here, we demonstrate that an embryonic operculum persists in amniotes and that its early development is homologous with that of teleosts. As in zebrafish, the second pharyngeal arch of the chick embryo grows disproportionately and comes to cover the posterior arches. We show that the developing second pharyngeal arch in both chick and zebrafish embryos express orthologous genes and require shh signalling for caudal expansion. In amniotes, however, the caudal edge of the expanded second arch fuses to the surface of the neck. We have detailed how this process occurs and also demonstrated a requirement for thyroid signalling here. Our results thus demonstrate the persistence of an embryonic opercular flap in amniotes, that its fusion mirrors aspects of amphibian metamorphosis and gives insights into the origin of branchial cleft anomalies in humans.