Xenbase Image ID: 84558

Fig. 5. PTK7 inhibits Wnt-PCP activity in Xenopus embryos. (A) PTK7 inhibits excess Wnt-PCP activity to rescue neural folds closure. Embryos were injected animally at the one-cell stage with RNA encoding Wnt5 (250 pg) or Wnt11 (350 pg) (b,c). To rescue neural folding, ptk7 (200 pg) mRNA was co-injected (d,e). Neurula-stage embryos are viewed dorsally (a); anterior is on top. Neural folds closure is increased in the PTK7 co-expressing embryos (d,e) versus the Wnt5- or Wnt11-expressing embryos (b,c). (B) Statistics of the experiment shown in Fig. 5A. Embryos were scored as having a completely open neural plate (yellow), intermediate neural plate folding (purple) or normal folding (blue). In control embryos (CE, n=55), 95% of the embryos had normal neural folds. In Wnt11-expressing embryos (n=41), 20% had normal neural folds and 56% had an open neural plate; by contrast, in the Wnt11/PTK7-expressing embryos (n=33), 67% had normal neural folds, and only 3% had an open neural plate. In Wnt5-expressing embryos (n=39), no embryos had normal neural folds and 87% had an open neural plate; by contrast, in the Wnt5/PTK7-expressing embryos (n=47), 26% had normal neural folds, and only 32% had an open neural plate. This is one representative experiment of three repeats. (C) snail2 expression patterns detect the distance between the neural folds in Wnt5±PTK7 and Wnt11±PTK7 co-expressing embryos. Embryos (a) were injected as described in Fig. 5A. snail2 expression was analyzed at the neurula stage. The arrowheads mark the distance between the inner edges of the neural folds. Note the differences in b versus d (Wnt5±PTK7) and c versus e (Wnt11±PTK7). (D) Embryos at the one-cell stage were injected with 75 pg of the ATF2-luciferase reporter vector and Fz7 (400 pg), in combination with either ptk7 (200 pg) or lrp6 (300 pg) mRNA. The control (ATF2-luc + Fz7) is set as 1. In each experiment a pool of 12 early neurula-stage embryos from each injected group were assayed for luc activity. Luc activity was normalized to protein levels in each group. This graph represents a pool of six independent experiments. Image published in: Bin-Nun N et al. (2014) Copyright © 2014. Image reproduced with permission of the publisher and the copyright holder. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. Gene Synonyms Species Stage(s) Tissue snai2.L slug, snai2-a, snai2-b, Snail2, xSlu, xslug, XSnail2 X. laevis Throughout NF stage 17 neural crest cranial neural crest Image source: Published Larger Image Printer Friendly View

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