Xenbase Image ID: 130533

Figure 8. A model of dorsal specification in Xenopus.During oogenesis, maternal xNorrin and Wnt11 are localized to the animal and vegetal poles, respectively. After fertilization, both mRNAs are enriched at the dorsal side, leading to two localized activity domains: BCNE center and Nieuwkoop center. xNorrin in the dorsal animal cells helps to specify neuroectoderm fate by activating a Wnt/β-catenin signaling domain, the BCNE center, and also participates in antagonizing the Nodal-related signal from the vegetal half and the BMP signal from the ventral side. Wnt11 in the dorsal vegetal domain is required for β-catenin activation in all dorsal regions, including in the BCNE center. Yellow: xNorrin and BCNE center. Purple: Wnt11. Red dots indicate stabilized β-catenin. Green: Nieuwkoop center. Image published in: Xu S et al. (2012) Xu et al. This image is reproduced with permission of the journal and the copyright holder. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license Larger Image Printer Friendly View

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