Reprogramming of early embryonic blastomeres into endodermal progenitors by a Caenorhabditis elegans GATA factor.

TitleReprogramming of early embryonic blastomeres into endodermal progenitors by a Caenorhabditis elegans GATA factor.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication1998
AuthorsZhu J, Fukushige T, McGhee JD, Rothman JH
JournalGenes Dev
Volume12
Issue24
Pagination3809-14
Date Published1998 Dec 15
ISSN0890-9369
KeywordsAnimals, Animals, Genetically Modified, beta Catenin, Biomarkers, Blastomeres, Caenorhabditis elegans, Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins, Cell Differentiation, Cell Lineage, Cell Nucleus, Cytoplasmic Granules, Cytoskeletal Proteins, DNA-Binding Proteins, Endoderm, GATA Transcription Factors, Helminth Proteins, Intestines, Proto-Oncogene Proteins, Stem Cells, Time Factors, Trans-Activators, Transcription Factors, Wnt Proteins, Zebrafish Proteins, Zygote
Abstract

The END-1 GATA factor has been implicated in specifying endoderm in Caenorhabditis elegans and is the earliest known zygotic protein expressed in the lineage of E, the clonal endoderm progenitor. We report that ubiquitous end-1 expression during a critical period in embryogenesis causes all non-endodermal lineages to produce endoderm instead of ectoderm and/or mesoderm. END-1 expression bypasses the requirement for maternal SKN-1 and the maternal Wnt signaling pathway in endoderm formation. This suggests that a primary function of these maternal factors is to regulate zygotic end-1 expression, which is then sufficient to initiate the entire program for endoderm development.

Alternate JournalGenes Dev.
PubMed ID9869634
PubMed Central IDPMC317268