Hox genes control vertebrate body elongation by collinear Wnt repression

Author:

Denans Nicolas12,Iimura Tadahiro23,Pourquié Olivier12456

Affiliation:

1. Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, University of Strasbourg, Illkirch, France

2. Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, United States

3. Division of Bio-Imaging Proteo-Science Center, Ehime University, Ehime, Japan

4. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Kansas City, United States

5. Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, United States

6. Department of Pathology, Brigham and Woman's Hospital, Boston, United States

Abstract

In vertebrates, the total number of vertebrae is precisely defined. Vertebrae derive from embryonic somites that are continuously produced posteriorly from the presomitic mesoderm (PSM) during body formation. We show that in the chicken embryo, activation of posterior Hox genes (paralogs 9–13) in the tail-bud correlates with the slowing down of axis elongation. Our data indicate that a subset of progressively more posterior Hox genes, which are collinearly activated in vertebral precursors, repress Wnt activity with increasing strength. This leads to a graded repression of the Brachyury/T transcription factor, reducing mesoderm ingression and slowing down the elongation process. Due to the continuation of somite formation, this mechanism leads to the progressive reduction of PSM size. This ultimately brings the retinoic acid (RA)-producing segmented region in close vicinity to the tail bud, potentially accounting for the termination of segmentation and axis elongation.

Funder

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)

Stowers Institute for Medical Research

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Agence Nationale de la Recherche

Publisher

eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd

Subject

General Immunology and Microbiology,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,General Medicine,General Neuroscience

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