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With the successful establishment of both targeted gene disruption and integration methods in the true diploid frog Xenopus tropicalis, this excellent vertebrate genetic model now is making a unique contribution to modelling human diseases. Here, we summarize our efforts on establishing homologous recombination‐mediated targeted integration in Xenopus tropicalis, the usefulness, and limitation of...
The model system, Xenopus laevis, has been used in innumerable research studies and has contributed to the understanding of multiple cytoskeletal components, including actin, microtubules, and neurofilaments, during axon pathfinding. Xenopus developmental stages have been widely characterized, and the Xenopus genome has been sequenced, allowing gene expression modifications through exogenous molecules...
Cell–cell and cell–substrate adhesion are essential to the proper formation and maintenance of tissue patterns during development, and deregulation of these processes can lead to invasion and metastasis of cancer cells. Cell surface adhesion and signaling molecules are key players in both normal development and cancer progression. One set of cell surface proteins, the Eph receptor tyrosine kinases...
Model animals are crucial to biomedical research. Among the commonly used model animals, the amphibian, Xenopus, has had tremendous impact because of its unique experimental advantages, cost effectiveness, and close evolutionary relationship with mammals as a tetrapod. Over the past 50 years, the use of Xenopus has made possible many fundamental contributions to biomedicine, and it is a cornerstone...
Over the past years, the Xenopus embryo has emerged as an incredibly useful model organism for studying the formation and function of cilia and ciliated epithelia in vivo. This has led to a variety of findings elucidating the molecular mechanisms of ciliated cell specification, basal body biogenesis, cilia assembly, and ciliary motility. These findings also revealed the deep functional conservation...
The targeted nuclease revolution (TALENs, CRISPR/Cas9) now allows Xenopus researchers to rapidly generate custom on‐demand genetic knockout models. These novel methods to perform reverse genetics are unprecedented and are fueling a wide array of human disease models within the aquatic diploid model organism Xenopus tropicalis (X. tropicalis). This emerging technology review focuses on the tools to...
Rho family GTPases are signaling molecules that orchestrate cytoskeletal dynamics in a variety of cellular processes. Because they effect localized changes to the cytoskeleton only in their active (GTP‐bound) conformation, the ability to monitor the active state of Rho GTPases in space and time is critical for understanding their function. Here, we summarize popular tools used for live imaging of...
Systems cell biology understanding of development requires characterization of all the molecules produced in the biological system. Decades of research and new‐generation sequencing provided functional information on key genes and transcripts. However, there is less information available on how differential gene expression translates into the domains of functionally important proteins, peptides, and...
The vertebrate hindbrain includes neural circuits that govern essential functions including breathing, blood pressure and heart rate. Hindbrain circuits also participate in generating rhythmic motor patterns for vocalization. In most tetrapods, sound production is powered by expiration and the circuitry underlying vocalization and respiration must be linked. Perception and arousal are also linked;...
Thyroid hormone (TH) signaling comprises TH transport across cell membranes, metabolism by deiodinases, and molecular mechanisms of gene regulation. Proper TH signaling is essential for normal perinatal development, most notably for neurogenesis and fetal growth. Knowledge of perinatal TH endocrinology needs improvement to provide better treatments for premature infants and endocrine diseases during...
Exosomes are small extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted by many cell types in both normal and pathogenic circumstances. Because EVs, particularly exosomes, are known to transfer biologically active proteins, RNAs and lipids between cells, they have recently become the focus of intense interest as potential mediators of cell‐cell communication, particularly in long‐range and juxtacrine signaling events...
In the 1980s, the study of localized maternal mRNAs was just emerging as a new research area. Classic embryological studies had linked the inheritance of cytoplasmic domains with specific cell lineages, but the underlying molecular nature of these putative determinants remained a mystery. The model system Xenopus would play a pivotal role in the progress of this new field. In fact, the first localized...
Cell‐free cytoplasmic extracts prepared from Xenopus eggs and embryos have for decades provided a biochemical system with which to interrogate complex cell biological processes in vitro. Recently, the application of microfabrication and microfluidic strategies in biology has narrowed the gap between in vitro and in vivo studies by enabling formation of cell‐size compartments containing functional...
Collective cell migration is essential in many fundamental aspects of normal development, like morphogenesis, organ formation, wound healing, and immune responses, as well as in the etiology of severe pathologies, like cancer metastasis. In spite of the huge amount of data accumulated on cell migration, such a complex process involves many molecular actors, some of which still remain to be functionally...
More than five thousand genes annotated in the recently published Xenopus laevis and Xenopus tropicalis genomes do not have a candidate orthologous counterpart in other vertebrate species. To determine whether these sequences represent genuine amphibian‐specific genes or annotation errors, it is necessary to analyze them alongside sequences from other amphibian species. However, due to large genome...
In contrast to humans, many amphibians are able to rapidly and completely regenerate complex tissues, including entire appendages. Following tail amputation, Xenopus tropicalis tadpoles quickly regenerate muscle, spinal cord, cartilage, vasculature and skin, all properly patterned in three dimensions. To better understand the molecular basis of this regenerative competence, we performed a transcriptional...
Studies of Xenopus eye development have contributed considerably to the understanding of vertebrate neurogenesis, including eye field specification, cell fate determination and identification of genes critical for eye formation. This knowledge has served as a solid foundation for cellular and molecular examinations of the robust regenerative capacity of the Xenopus eye. The retina, lens, and the optic...
We exist in a physical world, and cells within biological tissues must respond appropriately to both environmental forces and forces generated within the tissue to ensure normal development and homeostasis. Cell division is required for normal tissue growth and maintenance, but both the direction and rate of cell division must be tightly controlled to avoid diseases of over‐proliferation such as cancer...
Wnt/β‐catenin signaling is an important cell‐to‐cell signaling mechanism that controls gene expression during embryonic development and is critically implicated in human diseases. Developmental, cellular, and transcriptional responses to Wnt signaling are remarkably context‐specific in different biological processes. While nuclear localization of β‐catenin is the key to activation of the Wnt/β‐catenin...
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