Decoding of position in the developing neural tube from antiparallel morphogen gradients

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 356; no. 6345; pp. 1379 - 1383
• Main Authors: Zagorski, Marcin, Tabata, Yoji, Brandenberg, Nathalie, Lutolf, Matthias P., Tkačik, Gašper, Bollenbach, Tobias, Briscoe, James, Kicheva, Anna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Association for the Advancement of Science 30.06.2017; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Animals; Cell fate; Chick Embryo; Decoding; Dynamics; Embryo, Mammalian - metabolism; Embryos; Formations; Gene expression; Gene Regulatory Networks; Genes; Government regulations; Maximum likelihood estimation; Maximum Likelihood Statistics; Mice; Morphogenesis; Networks; Neural stem cells; Neural tube; Neural Tube - embryology; Neural Tube - metabolism; Pattern formation; Patterning; Signaling; Transcription Factors - metabolism; Tubes
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.aam5887

Like many developing tissues, the vertebrate neural tube is patterned by antiparallel morphogen gradients. To understand how these inputs are interpreted, we measured morphogen signaling and target gene expression in mouse embryos and chick ex vivo assays. From these data, we derived and validated a characteristic decoding map that relates morphogen input to the positional identity of neural progenitors. Analysis of the observed responses indicates that the underlying interpretation strategy minimizes patterning errors in response to the joint input of noisy opposing gradients. We reverse-engineered a transcriptional network that provides a mechanistic basis for the observed cell fate decisions and accounts for the precision and dynamics of pattern formation. Together, our data link opposing gradient dynamics in a growing tissue to precise pattern formation.