XB-ART-4722
Mech Dev
2003 Aug 01;1208:937-48. doi: 10.1016/s0925-4773(03)00162-x.
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A homologue of cysteine-rich secretory proteins induces premature degradation of vitelline envelopes and hatching of Xenopus laevis embryos.
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We cloned Xenopus laevis CRISP, XCRISP, a homologue of the mammalian family of cysteine-rich secretory proteins (CRISPs), which has been previously identified as a Wnt3a/noggin responsive gene in an expression screen [Mech. Dev. 87 (1999) 21]. We detected XCRISP expression exclusively in the hatching gland. XCRISP enters the secretory pathway and accumulates on the surface of presumptive hatching gland cells. Overexpression studies of XCRISP and XCRISP-mutants show that XCRISP induces premature hatching of embryos preceded by degradation of the vitelline envelope. A deletion mutant that lacks a 35 amino acid domain even accelerates hatching, while further deletion of the carboxy-terminus reverses these effects. From our studies, we conclude that XCRISP is sufficient to induce degradation of vitelline envelopes and that this activity maps to the most C-terminal amino acids, while the adjacent domain regulates XCRISP activity.
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Species referenced: Xenopus laevis
Genes referenced: ag1 crisp1.6
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