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Xarx2: An Aristaless Homolog That Regulates Brain Regionalization During Development In Xenopus Laevis, Marian Wolanski, Farhad Khosrowshahian, Le Kelly, Michael J. Crawford

Biological Sciences Publications

The aristaless-related gene, Arx, plays a fundamental role in patterning the brain in humans and mice. Arx mutants exhibit lissencephaly among other anomalies. We have cloned a Xenopus aristaless homolog that appears to define specific regions of the developing forebrain. xArx2 is transcribed in blastula through neurula stages, and comes to be restricted to the ventra and lateral telencephalon, lateral diencephalon, neural floor plate of the anterior spinal cord, and somites. In this respect, Arx2 expresses in regions similar to Arx with the exception of the somites. Overexpression enlarges the telencephalon, and interference by means of antisense morpholino-mediated translation knockdown …