Elsevier

Mechanisms of Development

Volume 154, December 2018, Pages 122-144
Mechanisms of Development

Review
Notch signaling in the division of germ layers in bilaterian embryos

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mod.2018.06.005Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • We review the role of Notch in the division of germ layers in bilaterians.

  • Canonical and non-canonical roles for Notch are considered.

  • Interactions of Notch and β-catenin signaling are discussed.

  • We focus in common and different outcomes of these pathways in bilaterians.

Abstract

Bilaterian embryos are triploblastic organisms which develop three complete germ layers (ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm). While the ectoderm develops mainly from the animal hemisphere, there is diversity in the location from where the endoderm and the mesoderm arise in relation to the animal-vegetal axis, ranging from endoderm being specified between the ectoderm and mesoderm in echinoderms, and the mesoderm being specified between the ectoderm and the endoderm in vertebrates. A common feature is that part of the mesoderm segregates from an ancient bipotential endomesodermal domain. The process of segregation is noisy during the initial steps but it is gradually refined. In this review, we discuss the role of the Notch pathway in the establishment and refinement of boundaries between germ layers in bilaterians, with special focus on its interaction with the Wnt/β-catenin pathway.

Keywords

Notch
β-Catenin
Ectoderm
Mesoderm
Endoderm
Eendomesoderm

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