Conservation of Pax 6 Function and Upstream Activation by Notch Signaling in Eye Development of Frogs and Flies

Loss of Pax 6 function leads to an eyeless phenotype in both mammals and insects, and ectopic expression of both the Drosophila and the mouse gene leads to the induction of ectopic eyes in Drosophila, which suggested to us that Pax 6 might be a universal master control gene for eye morphogenesis. He...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2002-02, Vol.99 (4), p.2020-2025
Main Authors: Onuma, Yasuko, Takahashi, Shuji, Asashima, Makoto, Kurata, Shoichiro, Gehring, Walter J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biological Sciences
Biology
Blastomeres
DNA-Binding Proteins - biosynthesis
Drosophila
Drosophila Proteins
Embryos
Evolution, Molecular
Eye - embryology
Eye Proteins
eyeless gene
Eyes & eyesight
Frogs
Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
Gene induction
Genetic Vectors
Genetics
Homeodomain Proteins - chemistry
Homeodomain Proteins - physiology
In Situ Hybridization
Insects
Membrane Proteins - metabolism
Notch gene
Notch receptors
Paired Box Transcription Factors
Pax 6 gene
PAX6 Transcription Factor
Protein Structure, Tertiary
Receptors, Notch
Repressor Proteins
Retina
Retina - embryology
Retina - metabolism
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
RNA
RNA - metabolism
RNA, Messenger - metabolism
Signal Transduction
Time Factors
Toys
Trans-Activators - biosynthesis
twin of eyeless gene
Twins
Vertebrates
Xenopus
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Summary:Loss of Pax 6 function leads to an eyeless phenotype in both mammals and insects, and ectopic expression of both the Drosophila and the mouse gene leads to the induction of ectopic eyes in Drosophila, which suggested to us that Pax 6 might be a universal master control gene for eye morphogenesis. Here, we report the reciprocal experiment in which the RNAs of the Drosophila Pax 6 homologs, eyeless and twin of eyeless, are transferred into a vertebrate embryo; i.e., early Xenopus embryos at the 2- and 16-cell stages. In both cases, ectopic eye structures are formed. To understand the genetic program specifying eye morphogenesis, we have analyzed the regulatory mechanisms of Pax 6 expression that initiates eye development. Previously, we have demonstrated that Notch signaling regulates the expression of eyeless and twin of eyeless in Drosophila. Here, we show that in Xenopus, activation of Notch signaling also induces eye-related gene expression, including Pax 6, in isolated animal caps. In Xenopus embryos, the activation of Notch signaling causes eye duplications and proximal eye defects, which are also induced by overexpression of eyeless and twin of eyeless. These findings indicate that the gene regulatory cascade is similar in vertebrates and invertebrates.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.022626999