Hypaxial muscle migration during primary myogenesis in Xenopus laevis

54Citations
Citations of this article
54Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

This article is free to access.

Abstract

In contrast to many vertebrates, the ventral body wall muscles and limb muscles of Xenopus develop at different times. The ventral body wall forms in the tadpole, while limb (appendicular) muscles form during metamorphosis to the adult frog. In organisms that have been examined thus far, a conserved mechanism has been shown to control migratory muscle precursor specification, migration, and differentiation. Here, we show that the process of ventral body wall formation in Xenopus laevis is similar to hypaxial muscle development in chickens and mice. Cells specified for the migratory lineage display an upregulation of pax3 in the ventro-lateral region of the somite. These pax3-positive cells migrate ventrally, away from the somite, and undergo terminal differentiation with the expression of myf-5, followed by myoD. Several other genes are selectively expressed in the migrating muscle precursor population, including neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM), Xenopus kit related kinase (Xkrk1), and Xenopus SRY box 5 (sox5). We have also found that muscle precursor migration is highly coordinated with the migration of neural crest-derived melanophores. However, by extirpating neural crest at an early stage and allowing embryos to develop, we determined that muscle precursor migration is not dependent on physical or genetic interaction with melanophores. © 2001 Academic Press.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Martin, B. L., & Harland, R. M. (2001). Hypaxial muscle migration during primary myogenesis in Xenopus laevis. Developmental Biology, 239(2), 270–280. https://doi.org/10.1006/dbio.2001.0434

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free