lefty-1, lefty-2, and nodal are expressed on the left side of developing mouse embryos and are implicated in left-right (L-R) determination. The role of lefty-1 was examined by analyzing mutant mice lacking this gene. The lefty-1-deficient mice showed a variety of L-R positional defects in visceral organs. Unexpectedly, however, the most common feature of lefty-1-/- mice was thoracic left isomerism (rather than right isomerism). The lack of lefty-1 resulted in bilateral expression of nodal, lefty-2, and Pitx2 (a homeobox gene normally expressed on the left side). These observations suggest that the role of lefty-1 is to restrict the expression of lefty-2 and nodal to the left side, and that lefty-2 or nodal encodes a signal for "leftness."

Preaxial polydactyly (PPD) is a common limb malformation in human.A number of polydactylous mouse mutants indicate that misexpression of Shh is a common requirement for generating extra digits. Here we identify a translocation breakpoint in a PPD patient and a transgenic insertion site in the polydactylous mouse mutant sasquatch (Ssq). The genetic lesions in both lie within the same respective intron of the LMBR1͞Lmbr1 gene, which resides Ϸ1 Mb away from Shh. Genetic analysis of Ssq reveals that the Lmbr1 gene is incidental to the phenotype and that the mutation directly interrupts a cis-acting regulator of Shh. This regulator is most likely the target for generating PPD mutations in human. )] is one of the most frequently observed human congenital limb malformations. Sporadic cases of PPD have been described, but most show an autosomal-dominant mode of inheritance. The limb-specific phenotype varies markedly within families, ranging from a simple addition of a phalanx in triphalangeal thumb to whole digit duplications and tibial aplasia. Using several large families, a PPD locus was mapped to a 450-kb region on chromosome 7q36, and all families described so far are linked to this locus (1-5). Recent reports suggest that PPD constitutes one aspect of a complex disease locus. Acheiropodia (6), complex polysyndactyly (CPS) (7), and acropectoral syndrome (8) are all distinct, limb-specific disorders that map to this region, suggesting that elements essential for limb development are located in this locus. Sasquatch (Ssq) is a mouse mutation that arose through a transgenic insertion (9). The mutation is semidominant, resulting in supernumerary preaxial (anterior) digits on the hindfeet in the heterozygotes. In homozygotes both fore-and hindlimbs show additional preaxial digits, and in some cases the long bones are shortened such that the limbs appear twisted. The insertion site responsible for the Ssq phenotype is physically linked to within Ϸ1 Mb of Shh.Here, we show that Ssq maps to the region on mouse chromosome 5 that corresponds to the human PPD locus. We identify mutations in a PPD patient and in the Ssq mouse. The PPD patient carries a de novo chromosomal translocation. Isolation of the PPD translocation breakpoint and the Ssq transgene insertion site revealed a similar location for these genetic disruptions within the Lmbr1 gene. We provide genetic analysis that shows that the Ssq mutation is not acting locally but in fact interrupts a long-range cis-acting regulator. This regulator operates on Shh residing 1.8 cM away, corresponding to a physical distance of Ϸ1 Mb. Consequently, disruption of Shh regulation is most likely the basis for PPD in humans. Materials and MethodsPatient Material. The translocation patient was clinically examined, and a member of her family was interviewed for family history at the Niigata University Hospital. All studies were approved by the local ethics committee. A member of the family gave written informed consent on behalf of the patient. The PPD families used in this study are...

Autotaxin (ATX) is a cancer-associated motogen that has multiple biological activities in vitro through the production of bioactive small lipids, lysophosphatidic acid (LPA). ATX and LPA are abundantly present in circulating blood. However, their roles in circulation remain to be solved. To uncover the physiological role of ATX we analyzed ATX knock-out mice. In ATXnull embryos, early blood vessels appeared to form properly, but they failed to develop into mature vessels. As a result ATX-null mice are lethal around embryonic day 10.5. The phenotype is much more severe than those of LPA receptor knock-out mice reported so far. In cultured allantois explants, neither ATX nor LPA was angiogenic. However, both of them helped to maintain preformed vessels by preventing disassembly of the vessels that was not antagonized by Ki16425, an LPA receptor antagonist. In serum from heterozygous mice both lysophospholipase D activity and LPA level were about half of those from wild-type mice, showing that ATX is responsible for the bulk of LPA production in serum. The present study revealed a previously unassigned role of ATX in stabilizing vessels through novel LPA signaling pathways. Autotaxin (ATX)2 is a motogen-like phosphodiesterase originally isolated from conditioned medium of human melanoma cells (1). Enforced expression of ATX in Ras-transformed NIH3T3 cells greatly enhances their invasive, tumorigenic, and metastatic potentials (2). In addition, enhanced expression of ATX has been demonstrated in various malignant tumor tissues (3). Thus, ATX is implicated in tumorigenic and metastatic potentials of cancer cells. ATX is also expressed in various tissues and is present at high concentration in various biological fluids including plasma, serum, and seminal plasma (4), implying specific roles of ATX in circulation.Recently, ATX was shown to have lysophospholipase D (lysoPLD) activity, which converts lysophosphatidylcholine to a bioactive lysophospholipid, lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) (5, 6). ATX also converts sphingosylphosphorylcholine into another bioactive lysophospholipid, sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) in vitro (7). Because LPA and S1P are regulators of cell motility and proliferation in various cell systems, they might be the effectors of the motogenic actions of ATX. LPA and S1P have been shown to have diverse roles in many biological processes that are mediated by G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) specific to LPA or S1P; there are five GPCRs for LPA (LPA 1-5 ) and five for S1P (S1P 1-5 ) with a number of putative GPCRs (8). Thus, ATX may exert its functions through these receptors. Indeed, ATX stimulates cell motility of tumor cells through one of the LPA receptors, LPA 1 (9), and ATX positively or negatively modulates cell motility depending on S1P receptor subtypes (7, 10). To uncover the physiological role of ATX and to identify the endogenous product of ATX, we investigated ATX knock-out mice. In this study we show that ATX produces LPA, but not S1P, in circulating blood and that it contributes to blood vess...

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Signaling molecules such as Activin, Sonic hedgehog, Nodal, Lefty, and Vg1 have been found to be involved in determination of left-right (L-R) asymmetry in the chick, mouse, or frog. However, a common signaling pathway has not yet been identified in vertebrates. We report that Pitx2, a bicoid-type homeobox gene expressed asymmetrically in the left lateral plate mesoderm, may be involved in determination of L-R asymmetry in both mouse and chick. Since Pitx2 appears to be downstream of lefty-1 in the mouse pathway, we examined whether mouse Lefty proteins could affect the expression of Pitx2 in the chick. Our results indicate that a common pathway from lefty-1 to Pitx2 likely exists for determination of L-R asymmetry in vertebrates.

The rat small eye strain (rSey) lacks eyes and nose in the homozygote, and is similar to the mouse Sey strain with mutations in the Pax-6 gene. We isolated Pax-6 cDNA clones from an rSey homozygote library, and found an internal deletion of about 600 basepairs in the serine/threonine-rich domain. At the genomic level, a single base (G) insertion in an exon generates an abnormal 5' donor splice site, thereby producing the truncated mRNA. Anterior midbrain crest cells in the homozygous rSey embryos reached the eye rudiments but did not migrate any further to the nasal rudiments, suggesting that the Pax-6 gene is involved in conducting migration of neural crest cells from the anterior midbrain.

In insects, there are two different modes of segmentation. In the higher dipteran insects (like Drosophila), their segmentation takes place almost simultaneously in the syncytial blastoderm. By contrast, in the orthopteran insects (like Schistocerca (grasshopper)), the anterior segments form almost simultaneously in the cellular blastoderm and then the remaining posterior part elongates to form segments sequentially from the posterior proliferative zone. Although most of their orthologues of the Drosophila segmentation genes may be involved in their segmentation, little is known about their roles. We have investigated segmentation processes of Gryllus bimaculatus, focusing on its orthologues of the Drosophila segment-polarity genes, G. bimaculatus wingless (Gbwg), armadillo (Gbarm) and hedgehog (Gbhh). Gbhh and Gbwg were observed to be expressed in the each anterior segment and the posterior proliferative zone. In order to know their roles, we used RNA interference (RNAi). We could not observed any significant effects of RNAi for Gbwg and Gbhh on segmentation, probably due to functional replacement by another member of the corresponding gene families. Embryos obtained by RNAi for Gbarm exhibited abnormal anterior segments and lack of the abdomen. Our results suggest that GbWg/GbArm signaling is involved in the posterior sequential segmentation in the G. bimaculatus embryos, while Gbwg, Gbarm and Gbhh are likely to act as the segment-polarity genes in the anterior segmentation similarly as in Drosophila.

Myostatin is a potent negative regulator of skeletal muscle growth. Therefore, myostatin inhibition offers a novel therapeutic strategy for muscular dystrophy by restoring skeletal muscle mass and suppressing the progression of muscle degeneration. The known myostatin inhibitors include myostatin propeptide, follistatin, follistatin-related proteins, and myostatin antibodies. Although follistatin shows potent myostatin-inhibiting activities, it also acts as an efficient inhibitor of activins. Because activins are involved in multiple functions in various organs, their blockade by follistatin would affect multiple tissues other than skeletal muscles. In the present study, we report the characterization of a myostatin inhibitor derived from follistatin, which does not affect activin signaling. The dissociation constants (K(d)) of follistatin to activin and myostatin are 1.72 nM and 12.3 nM, respectively. By contrast, the dissociation constants (K(d)) of a follistatin-derived myostatin inhibitor, designated FS I-I, to activin and myostatin are 64.3 microM and 46.8 nM, respectively. Transgenic mice expressing FS I-I, under the control of a skeletal muscle-specific promoter showed increased skeletal muscle mass and strength. Hyperplasia and hypertrophy were both observed. We crossed FS I-I transgenic mice with mdx mice, a model for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Notably, the skeletal muscles in the mdx/FS I-I mice showed enlargement and reduced cell infiltration. Muscle strength is also recovered in the mdx/FS I-I mice. These results indicate that myostatin blockade by FS I-I has a therapeutic potential for muscular dystrophy.