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To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ydbio.2009.04.015 Byline: Michael A. Chesney (a), Ngan Lam (a), Dyan E. Morgan (b), Bryan T. Phillips (a), Judith Kimble (a)(b)(c) Keywords: HLH-2, lag-2, Distal tip cell; Stem cell niche; Morphogenesis; Leader function; Organogenesis; Gonadogenesis Abstract: The Caenorhabditis elegans distal tip cell (DTC) provides a niche for germline stem cells in both hermaphrodites and males. The hermaphrodite distal tip cell (hDTC) also provides 'leader' function to control gonadal elongation and shape, while in males, leader function is allocated to the linker cell (LC). Therefore, the male distal tip cell (mDTC) serves as a niche but not as a leader. The C. elegans homolog of E/Daughterless, HLH-2, was previously implicated in hDTC specification. Here we report that HLH-2 is also critical for hDTC maintenance, hDTC niche function and hDTC expression of a lag-2/DSL ligand reporter. We also find that HLH-2 functions in males to direct linker cell specification and to promote both mDTC maintenance and the mDTC niche function. We conclude that HLH-2 functions in both sexes to promote leader cell specification and DTC niche function. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706-1544, USA (b) Program in Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA (c) Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA Article History: Received 24 October 2008; Revised 20 March 2009; Accepted 13 April 2009

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ydbio.2006.03.001 Byline: Bryan T. Phillips (a), Hye-Joo Kwon (a), Colt Melton (a), Paul Houghtaling (a), Andreas Fritz (b), Bruce B. Riley (a) Keywords: msx; dlx; eya; six; foxd3; snail2; sox10; Placode; Neural crest Abstract: The zebrafish muscle segment homeobox genes msxB, msxC and msxE are expressed in partially overlapping domains in the neural crest and preplacodal ectoderm. We examined the roles of these msx genes in early development. Disrupting individual msx genes causes modest variable defects, whereas disrupting all three produces a reproducible severe phenotype, suggesting functional redundancy. Neural crest differentiation is blocked at an early stage. Preplacodal development begins normally, but placodes arising from the msx expression domain later show elevated apoptosis and are reduced in size. Cell proliferation is normal in these tissues. Unexpectedly, Msx-deficient embryos become ventralized by late gastrulation whereas misexpression of msxB dorsalizes the embryo. These effects appear to involve Distal-less (Dlx) protein activity, as loss of dlx3b and dlx4b suppresses ventralization in Msx-depleted embryos. At the same time, Msx-depletion restores normal preplacodal gene expression to dlx3b-dlx4b mutants. These data suggest that mutual antagonism between Msx and Dlx proteins achieves a balance of function required for normal preplacodal differentiation and placement of the neural-nonneural border. Author Affiliation: (a) Biology Department, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77843-3258, USA (b) Biology Department, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA Article History: Received 4 May 2005; Revised 28 February 2006; Accepted 1 March 2006

The vertebrate inner ear is a marvel of structural and functional complexity, which is all the more remarkable because it develops from such a simple structure, the otic placode. Analysis of inner ear development has long been a fascination of experimental embryologists, who sought to understand cellular mechanisms of otic placode induction. More recently, however, molecular and genetic approaches have made the inner ear a useful model system for studying a much broader range of basic developmental mechanisms, including cell fate specification and differentiation, axial patterning, epithelial morphogenesis, cytoskeletal dynamics, stem cell biology, neurobiology, physiology, etc. Of course, there has also been tremendous progress in understanding the functions and processes peculiar to the inner ear. The goal of this review is to recount how historical approaches have shaped our understanding of the signaling interactions controlling early otic development; to discuss how new findings have led to fundamental new insights; and to point out new problems that need to be resolved in future research. Keywords: Otic vesicle; Hair cell; Cochlea; Macula; Crista; Vestibular; Preplacodal domain; Hindbrain

Members of the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family of peptide ligands have been implicated in otic placode induction in several vertebrate species. Here, we have functionally analyzed the roles of fgf3 and fgf8 in zebrafish otic development. The role of fgf8 was assessed by analyzing acerebellar (ace) mutants. fgf3 function was disrupted by injecting embryos with antisense morpholino oligomers (MO) specifically designed to block translation of fgf3 transcripts. Disruption of either fgf3 or fgf8 causes moderate reduction in the size of the otic vesicle. Injection of fgf3-MO into ace/ace mutants causes much more severe reduction or complete loss of otic tissue. Moreover, preplacode cells fail to express pax8 and pax2.1, indicating disruption of early stages of otic induction in fgf3-depleted ace/ace mutants. Both fgf3 and fgf8 are normally expressed in the germring by 50% epiboly and are induced in the primordium of rhombomere 4 by 80% epibloy. In addition, fgf3 is expressed during the latter half of gastrulation in the prechordal plate and paraxial cephalic mesendoderm, tissues that either pass beneath or persist near the prospective otic ectoderm. Conditions that alter the pattern of expression of fgf3 and/or fgf8 cause corresponding changes in otic induction. Loss of maternal and zygotic one-eyed pinhead (oep) does not alter expression of fgf3 or fgf8 in the hindbrain, but ablates mesendodermal sources of fgf signaling and delays otic induction by several hours. Conversely, treatment of wild-type embryos with retinoic acid greatly expands the periotic domains of expression of fgf3, fgf8, and pax8 and leads to formation of supernumerary and ectopic otic vesicles. These data support the hypothesis that fgf3 and fgf8 cooperate during the latter half of gastrulation to induce differentiation of otic placodes.

The canonical Wnt/β-catenin pathway is extensively characterized, broadly conserved, and clinically important. In this review, we describe the C. elegans Wnt/β-catenin asymmetry pathway and suggest that some of its unusual features may have important implications for the canonical Wnt/β-catenin pathway. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: C. elegans SYS-1 has key functional characteristics of a canonical β-catenin, but no significant sequence similarity. Here, we report the SYS-1 crystal structure, both on its own and in a complex with POP-1, the C. elegans TCF homolog. The two structures possess signature features of canonical β-catenin and the β-catenin/TCF complex that could not be predicted by sequence. Most importantly, SYS-1 bears 12 armadillo repeats and the SYS-1/POP-1 interface is anchored by a conserved salt-bridge, the “charged button.” We also modeled structures for three other C. elegans β-catenins to predict the molecular basis of their distinct binding properties. Finally, we generated a phylogenetic tree, using the region of highest structural similarity between SYS-1 and β-catenin, and found that SYS-1 clusters robustly within the β-catenin clade. We conclude that the SYS-1 protein belongs to the β-catenin family and suggest that additional divergent β-catenins await discovery. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]