Int. J. Dev. Biol. 54: 1517 - 1526 (2010)

https://doi.org/10.1387/ijdb.092887cs

Vol 54, Issue 10

Comprehensive analysis of fibroblast growth factor receptor expression patterns during chick forelimb development

Developmental Expression Pattern | Published: 21 December 2010

Caroline J. Sheeba¹, Raquel P. Andrade¹, Delphine Duprez² and Isabel Palmeirim*^,3,4

¹Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Health Sciences, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal, ²Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire du Développement, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France, ³Regenerative Medicine Program, Departamento de Ciências Biomédicas e Medicina, Universidade do Algarve and ⁴Institute for Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Centro de Biomedicina Molecular e Estrutural, Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal

Abstract

Specific interactions between fibroblast growth factors (Fgf1-22) and their tyrosine kinase receptors (FgfR1-4) activate different signalling pathways that are responsible for the biological processes in which Fgf signalling is implicated during embryonic development. In the chick, several Fgf ligands (Fgf2, 4, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13 and 18) and the four FgfRs (FgfR 1, 2, 3 and 4) have been reported to be expressed in the developing limb. The precise spatial and temporal expression of these transcripts is important to guide the limb bud to develop into a wing/leg. In this paper, we present a detailed and systematic analysis of the expression patterns of FgfR1, 2, 3 and 4 throughout chick wing development, by in situ hybridisation on whole mounts and sections. Moreover, we characterize for the first time the different isoforms of FGFR1-3 by analysing their differential expression in limb ectoderm and mesodermal tissues, using RT-PCR and in situ hybridisation on sections. Finally, isoform-specific sequences for FgfR1IIIb, FgfR1IIIc, FgfR3IIIb and FgfR3IIIc were determined and deposited in GenBank with the following accession numbers: GU053725, GU065444, GU053726, GU065445, respectively.

Keywords

Fgf, FgfRs, limb, chick