High impact information on acvr1

• A much stronger dorsalization, similar to that of bmp2b/swirl and bmp7/snailhouse mutants, however, is obtained by inhibiting both maternally and zygotically supplied alk8 gene products with morpholino antisense oligonucleotides [1].
• The phenotype of laf mutants and alk8 morphants can be rescued by injected mRNA encoding Alk8 or the Bmp-regulated transcription factor Smad5, but not by mRNA encoding Bmp2b or Bmp7 [1].
• We rescued the laf dorsalized mutant phenotype by alk8 mRNA injection and generated homozygous laf/alk8 mothers to investigate the maternal role of Laf/Alk8 activity [2].
• We show here that the Bmp receptor lost-a-fin/alk8 is required for rostral pu.1 expression and myelopoiesis, identifying an early genetic event that distinguishes between the induction of anterior and posterior hematopoiesis [3].
• Here, we present evidence that alk8 is required for neural crest cell (NCC) formation and that alk8 signaling gradients direct the proper patterning of premigratory NCCs [4].

Biological context of acvr1

• Since Bmps play significant roles in tooth specification, initiation, and differentiation, we hypothesized that alk8 may play a role in directing the Bmp-mediated epithelial mesenchymal cell interactions regulating tooth development [5].
• Single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis was used to map alk8 to zebrafish LG02 in a region demonstrating significant conserved synteny to Hsa2, and which contains the human alk2 gene, ACVRI [6].

Anatomical context of acvr1

• We also demonstrate that patterning defects in premigratory NCCs, induced by alk8 misexpression, correlate with subsequent defects in NCC-derived pharyngeal arch cartilages [4].
• Our results provide insight into alk8-mediated BMP signaling gradients and the establishment of premigratory NCC mediolateral positioning, and extend the model for BMP patterning of the neural crest to include that of NCC-derived pharyngeal arch cartilages [4].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of acvr1

• Functional characterization of alk8 was performed using microinjection studies of constitutively active (CA), kinase modified/dominant negative (DN), and truncated alk8 mRNAs [6].

References