The Cytoskeletal Protein Zyxin Modulates the Expression of the Target Genes of the Shh Signaling Cascade in the Cells of the Neural Plate of Embryos of the Spur-Toed Frog Xenopus laevis

Abstract

It has been shown earlier in a study of the role of the cytoskeletal protein zyxin in cell differentiation in the primordium of the central nervous system (CNS) of the spur-toed frog Xenopus laevis that zyxin interacts with three components of the signaling cascade of the secreted factor Sonic hedgehog (Shh): the transmembrane receptor Patched2 (Ptc2) and the transcription regulators Gli1 and Zic1. In the present work, the effect of zyxin knockdown on the expression of some key proteins of the Shh cascade has been studied. It has been shown using the RT-q PCR that the suppression of zyxin translation enhances the inhibitory effect of Shh on the expression of the target genes of this cascade such as Pax6, Irx3, and Dbx2 and affects the number of transcripts of several genes encoding the proteins that directly provide the functioning of the Shh cascade: Shh, Gli1, Ptc2, and Zic1. A hypothesis has been proposed that zyxin is involved in the regulation of the spatial marking of neural plate cells through the inhibitory effect on the Shh cascade.