Hand2 inhibits kidney specification while promoting vein formation within the posterior mesoderm
- University of California, San Diego, United States
- Universidad de los Andes, Colombia
Abstract
Proper organogenesis depends upon defining the precise dimensions of organ progenitor territories. Kidney progenitors originate within the intermediate mesoderm (IM), but the pathways that set the boundaries of the IM are poorly understood. Here, we show that the bHLH transcription factor Hand2 limits the size of the embryonic kidney by restricting IM dimensions. The IM is expanded in zebrafish hand2 mutants and is diminished when hand2 is overexpressed. Within the posterior mesoderm, hand2 is expressed laterally adjacent to the IM. Venous progenitors arise between these two territories, and hand2 promotes venous development while inhibiting IM formation at this interface. Furthermore, hand2 and the co-expressed zinc-finger transcription factor osr1 have functionally antagonistic influences on kidney development. Together, our data suggest that hand2 functions in opposition to osr1 to balance the formation of kidney and vein progenitors by regulating cell fate decisions at the lateral boundary of the IM.
Article and author information
Author details
Zayra V Garavito-Aguilar
Funding
National Institutes of Health (R01HL069594 and R01HL108599)
- Deborah Yelon
March of Dimes Foundation (1-FY16-257)
- Deborah Yelon
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (TG2-01154)
- Elliot A Perens
A.P. Giannini Foundation (Postdoctoral Fellowship)
- Elliot A Perens
Universidad de los Andes (FAPA)
- Zayra V Garavito-Aguilar
Vicerrectoria de Investigaciones (P14.160422.007/01)
- Zayra V Garavito-Aguilar
Colciencias Convocatoria (617-2013-Joven Investigador Fellowship)
- Karen T Peña
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Ethics
Animal experimentation: All zebrafish work followed protocols (S09125) approved by the University of California, San Diego IACUC.
Copyright
© 2016, Perens et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Hand2 inhibits kidney specification while promoting vein formation within the posterior mesoderm
eLife 5:e19941.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.19941
