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Functional analysis of activins during mammalian development

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Abstract

ACTIVINS are dimeric (βAβA; βBβB; βAβB) members of the transforming growth factor-β superfamily1. They are widely expressed during murine development1–6, are highly conserved during vertebrate evolution1,7–11, and may be involved in mesoderm induction and neurulation in Xenopus laevis and Oryzias latipes10–17 . To investigate the function of mammalian activins in vivo, we generated mice with mutations either in activin-βA or in both activin-βA and activin-βB. Activin-βA-deficient mice develop to term but die within 24 h of birth. They lack whiskers and lower incisors and have defects in their secondary palates, including cleft palate, demonstrating that activin-βA must have a role during craniofacial development. Mice lacking both activin subunits show the defects of both individual mutants but no additional defects, indicating that there is no functional redundancy between these proteins during embryogenesis. In contrast to observations in lower vertebrates10–17, zygotic expression of activins is not essential for mesoderm formation in mice.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, 77030, USA

    Martin M. Matzuk & Allan Bradley

  2. Department of Pathology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, 77030, USA

    Martin M. Matzuk & T. Rajendra Kumar

  3. Department of Cell Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, 77030, USA

    Martin M. Matzuk, Jackie R. Bickenbach & Dennis R. Roop

  4. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, 77030, USA

    Allan Bradley

  5. Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02142, USA

    Anne Vassalli & Rudolf Jaenisch

  6. Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139, USA

    Anne Vassalli & Rudolf Jaenisch

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  1. Martin M. Matzuk
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  2. T. Rajendra Kumar
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  6. Rudolf Jaenisch
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  7. Allan Bradley
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Matzuk, M., Kumar, T., Vassalli, A. et al. Functional analysis of activins during mammalian development. Nature 374, 354–356 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/374354a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/374354a0

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