Nodal coordinates the anterior-posterior patterning of germ layers and induces head formation in zebrafish explants
Tao Cheng,
Yan-Yi Xing,
Cong Liu,
Yun-Fei Li,
Ying Huang,
Xiang Liu,
Ying-Jie Zhang,
Guo-Qin Zhao,
Yang Dong,
Xin-Xin Fu,
Yi-Meng Tian,
Li-Ping Shu,
Sean G. Megason,
Peng-Fei Xu
Affiliations
Tao Cheng
Women’s Hospital, Institute of Genetics, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
Yan-Yi Xing
Women’s Hospital, Institute of Genetics, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Genetic and Developmental Disorders, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
Cong Liu
Women’s Hospital, Institute of Genetics, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
Yun-Fei Li
Women’s Hospital, Institute of Genetics, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
Ying Huang
Women’s Hospital, Institute of Genetics, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
Xiang Liu
Women’s Hospital, Institute of Genetics, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
Ying-Jie Zhang
Women’s Hospital, Institute of Genetics, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
Guo-Qin Zhao
Department of Immunology, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 550004, China
Yang Dong
Women’s Hospital, Institute of Genetics, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
Xin-Xin Fu
Women’s Hospital, Institute of Genetics, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
Yi-Meng Tian
Women’s Hospital, Institute of Genetics, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
Li-Ping Shu
Department of Immunology, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 550004, China
Sean G. Megason
Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Corresponding author
Peng-Fei Xu
Women’s Hospital, Institute of Genetics, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China; Corresponding author
Summary: Much progress has been made toward generating analogs of early embryos, such as gastruloids and embryoids, in vitro. However, methods for how to fully mimic the cell movements of gastrulation and coordinate germ-layer patterning to induce head formation are still lacking. Here, we show that a regional Nodal gradient applied to zebrafish animal pole explant can generate a structure that recapitulates the key cell movements of gastrulation. Using single-cell transcriptome and in situ hybridization analysis, we assess the dynamics of the cell fates and patterning of this structure. The mesendoderm differentiates into the anterior endoderm, prechordal plate, notochord, and tailbud-like cells along an anterior-posterior axis, and an anterior-posterior-patterned head-like structure (HLS) progressively forms during late gastrulation. Among 105 immediate Nodal targets, 14 genes contain axis-induction ability, and 5 of them induce a complete or partial head structure when overexpressed in the ventral side of zebrafish embryos.
