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Three neural tubes in mouse embryos with mutations in the T-box gene Tbx6

Abstract

Somites, segmented mesodermal units of the vertebrate embryo, are the precursors of adult skeletal muscle, bone and cartilage1. During embryogenesis, somite progenitor cells ingress through the primitive streak, move laterally to a paraxial position (alongside the body axis) and segment into epithelial somites2. Little is known about how this paraxial mesoderm tissue is specified1,2. We have previously described a mouse T-box gene, Tbx6 (ref. 3), which codes for a putative DNA-binding protein4,5. The embryonic pattern of expression of Tbx6 in somite precursor cells suggests that this gene may be involved in the specification of paraxial mesoderm3. We now report the creation of a mutation in Tbx6 that profoundly affects the differentiation of paraxial mesoderm. Irregular somites form in the neck region of mutant embryos, whereas more posterior paraxial tissue does not form somites but instead differentiates along a neural pathway, forming neural-tube-like structures that flank the axial neural tube. These paraxial tubes show dorsal/ventral patterning that is characteristic of the neural tube, and have differentiated motor neurons. These results indicate that Tbx6 is needed for cells to choose between a mesodermal and a neuronal differentiation pathway during gastrulation; Tbx6 is essential for the specification of posterior paraxial mesoderm, and in its absence cells destined to form posterior somites differentiate along a neuronal pathway.

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Figure 1: Targeted disruption of the Tbx6 gene by homologous recombination.
Figure 2: Normal (n) and Tbx6-mutant (m) embryos at e9.5 (ag) and e10.5 (h, i).
Figure 3: Expression of mesodermal marker genes in normal (left in each panel) and Tbx6-mutant (right in each panel) embryos at e9.5 as shown by whole-mount in situ hybridization (darker areas)26.
Figure 4: Expression of neural and neural/mesodermal markers in normal (left in each panel) and Tbx6-mutant (right in each panel) embryos a.t e9.5 (ac) and e10.5 (d, e) as shown by whole-mount in situ hybridization (darker areas).

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Acknowledgements

We thank D. Wilkinson, T. Jessell, A. Gossler, E. Olson and B. Hogan for probes; P.Rodriguez, S. Campbell, C. Bogosian, B. Bogosian and P. Podikia for technical assistance; and T. Jessell, C. Stern, T. Bestor, L. Silver and members of our laboratory for contributions and suggestions. This work was supported by the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Foundation and by a grant from the NIH (to V.E.P.).

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Correspondence to Virginia E. Papaioannou.

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Chapman, D., Papaioannou, V. Three neural tubes in mouse embryos with mutations in the T-box gene Tbx6. Nature 391, 695–697 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/35624

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