Int. J. Dev. Biol. 55: 121 - 126 (2011)

https://doi.org/10.1387/ijdb.103130sn

Vol 55, Issue 1

The transcriptional coactivators Yap and TAZ are expressed during early Xenopus development

Open Access | Developmental Expression Pattern | Published: 14 September 2010

Susumu Nejigane¹, Yoshikazu Haramoto², Makoto Okuno¹, Shuji Takahashi*^,2 and Makoto Asashima^1,3

¹Department of Life Sciences (Biology), ²Center for Structuring Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo and ³Research Center for Stem Cell Engineering, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Sciences and Technology (AIST), Japan

Abstract

The Yap and TAZ genes encode highly conserved domains which bind various transcription factors. Yap and TAZ act as transcriptional coactivators to modulate transcriptional activity. The activities of Yap and TAZ are negatively regulated by Hippo signaling via direct phosphorylation. In this study, we describe the expression patterns of Yap and TAZ during the development of Xenopus tropicalis. The Xenopus tropicalis Yap (xtYap) and Xenopus tropicalis TAZ (xtTAZ) genes are expressed maternally. xtYap is widely expressed throughout embryogenesis, particularly in the facial connective tissues, branchial arch, midbrain-hindbrain boundary, otic vesicle, pronephros, notochord, hindgut and tailbud. xtTAZ expression occurs predominantly in the presomitic mesoderm, facial connective tissues, brain, branchial arch, trunk neural crest cells and migrating hypaxial myoblasts. In the muscle lineage, xtTAZ expression is transient and restricted to proliferating cells, the presomitic mesoderm and the edges of the hypaxial myoblasts, with no expression detected in mature muscle cells. These results provide insights into the functions of Yap and TAZ and their regulation by Hippo signaling during early development in Xenopus.

Keywords

Yes-associated protein, Yap, TAZ, WWtr1, Xenopus