Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.
The Segmentation Clock: Converting Embryonic Time into Spatial Pattern
Olivier Pourquié
In most animal species, the anteroposterior body axis is generatedby the formation of repeated structures called segments. Invertebrate segmentation, a specialized mesodermal structurecalled the somite gives rise to skeletal muscles, vertebrae,and some dermis. Formation of the somites is a rhythmic processthat involves an oscillator—the segmentation clock—driven by Wnt and Notch signaling. The clock ticks in somiteprecursors and halts when they reach a specific maturation stagedefined as the wavefront, established by fibroblast growth factorand Wnt signaling. This process converts the temporal oscillationsinto the periodic spatial pattern of somite boundaries. Thestudy of somite development provides insights into the spatiotemporalintegration of signaling systems in the vertebrate embryo.
Stowers Institute for Medical Research, 1000 East 50th Street, Kansas City, MO 64110, USA.
Thomas F. Schultz and Steve A. Kay (18 July 2003) Science301 (5631), 326.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.1085935] |Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
REVIEW
Marie Kmita and Denis Duboule (18 July 2003) Science301 (5631), 331.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.1085753] |Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
REVIEW
R. Scott Poethig (18 July 2003) Science301 (5631), 334.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.1085328] |Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
REVIEW
James C. Carrington and Victor Ambros (18 July 2003) Science301 (5631), 336.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.1085242] |Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Cell cycle progression is required for zebrafish somite morphogenesis but not segmentation clock function.
L. Zhang, C. Kendrick, D. Julich, and S. A. Holley (2008)
Development
135, 2065-2070
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Wnt/Notch signalling and information processing during development.
P. Hayward, T. Kalmar, and A. Martinez Arias (2008)
Development
135, 411-424
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Wnt3a/ -catenin signaling controls posterior body development by coordinating mesoderm formation and segmentation.
W. C. Dunty Jr, K. K. Biris, R. B. Chalamalasetty, M. M. Taketo, M. Lewandoski, and T. P. Yamaguchi (2008)
Development
135, 85-94
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Noise-Limited Frequency Signal Transmission in Gene Circuits.
Ultradian oscillations of Stat, Smad, and Hes1 expression in response to serum.
S. Yoshiura, T. Ohtsuka, Y. Takenaka, H. Nagahara, K. Yoshikawa, and R. Kageyama (2007)
PNAS
104, 11292-11297
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Progressive activation of Delta-Notch signaling from around the blastopore is required to set up a functional caudal lobe in the spider Achaearanea tepidariorum.
H. Oda, O. Nishimura, Y. Hirao, H. Tarui, K. Agata, and Y. Akiyama-Oda (2007)
Development
134, 2195-2205
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Analyses of Very Early Hemopoietic Regeneration After Bone Marrow Transplantation: Comparison of Intravenous and Intrabone Marrow Routes.
Q. Li, H. Hisha, R. Yasumizu, T.-X. Fan, G.-X. Yang, Q. Li, Y.-Z. Cui, X.-L. Wang, C.-Y. Song, S. Okazaki, et al. (2007)
Stem Cells
25, 1186-1194
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
The negative regulation of Mesp2 by mouse Ripply2 is required to establish the rostro-caudal patterning within a somite.
M. Morimoto, N. Sasaki, M. Oginuma, M. Kiso, K. Igarashi, K.-i. Aizaki, J. Kanno, and Y. Saga (2007)
Development
134, 1561-1569
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
A Complex Oscillating Network of Signaling Genes Underlies the Mouse Segmentation Clock.
M.-L. Dequeant, E. Glynn, K. Gaudenz, M. Wahl, J. Chen, A. Mushegian, and O. Pourquie (2006)
Science
314, 1595-1598
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Shisa2 promotes the maturation of somitic precursors and transition to the segmental fate in Xenopus embryos.
T. Nagano, S. Takehara, M. Takahashi, S. Aizawa, and A. Yamamoto (2006)
Development
133, 4643-4654
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Anterior-posterior differences in vertebrate segments: specification of trunk and tail somites in the zebrafish blastula.
S. A. Holley (2006)
Genes & Dev.
20, 1831-1837
|Full Text »|PDF »
Identification of Epha4 enhancer required for segmental expression and the regulation by Mesp2.
Y. Nakajima, M. Morimoto, Y. Takahashi, H. Koseki, and Y. Saga (2006)
Development
133, 2517-2525
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Real-time imaging of the somite segmentation clock: Revelation of unstable oscillators in the individual presomitic mesoderm cells.
Y. Masamizu, T. Ohtsuka, Y. Takashima, H. Nagahara, Y. Takenaka, K. Yoshikawa, H. Okamura, and R. Kageyama (2006)
PNAS
103, 1313-1318
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
A missense mutation in the bovine SLC35A3 gene, encoding a UDP-N-acetylglucosamine transporter, causes complex vertebral malformation.
B. Thomsen, P. Horn, F. Panitz, E. Bendixen, A. H. Petersen, L.-E. Holm, V. H. Nielsen, J. S. Agerholm, J. Arnbjerg, and C. Bendixen (2006)
Genome Res.
16, 97-105
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Control of the segmentation process by graded MAPK/ERK activation in the chick embryo.
M.-C. Delfini, J. Dubrulle, P. Malapert, J. Chal, and O. Pourquie (2005)
PNAS
102, 11343-11348
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Notch signaling functions as a binary switch for the determination of glandular and luminal fates of endodermal epithelium during chicken stomach development.
Y. Matsuda, Y. Wakamatsu, J. Kohyama, H. Okano, K. Fukuda, and S. Yasugi (2005)
Development
132, 2783-2793
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Impairment of Thymocyte Development by Dominant-Negative Kuzbanian (ADAM-10) Is Rescued by the Notch Ligand, Delta-1.
J. O. Manilay, A. C. Anderson, C. Kang, and E. A. Robey (2005)
J. Immunol.
174, 6732-6741
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Three's Company: Two or More Unrelated Receptors Pair with the Same Ligand.
Notch modulates Wnt signalling by associating with Armadillo/{beta}-catenin and regulating its transcriptional activity.
P. Hayward, K. Brennan, P. Sanders, T. Balayo, R. DasGupta, N. Perrimon, and A. M. Arias (2005)
Development
132, 1819-1830
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Zebrafish GADD45{beta} genes are involved in somite segmentation.
A. Kawahara, Y.-S. Che, R. Hanaoka, H. Takeda, and I. B. Dawid (2005)
PNAS
102, 361-366
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
The adhesion force of Notch with Delta and the rate of Notch signaling.
F. Ahimou, L.-P. Mok, B. Bardot, and C. Wesley (2004)
J. Cell Biol.
167, 1217-1229
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
LEF1-mediated regulation of Delta-like1 links Wnt and Notch signaling in somitogenesis.
J. Galceran, C. Sustmann, S.-C. Hsu, S. Folberth, and R. Grosschedl (2004)
Genes & Dev.
18, 2718-2723
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Oscillations in NF-{kappa}B Signaling Control the Dynamics of Gene Expression.
D. E. Nelson, A. E. C. Ihekwaba, M. Elliott, J. R. Johnson, C. A. Gibney, B. E. Foreman, G. Nelson, V. See, C. A. Horton, D. G. Spiller, et al. (2004)
Science
306, 704-708
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Tracking Operator State Fluctuations in Gene Expression in Single Cells.
B. Banerjee, S. Balasubramanian, G. Ananthakrishna, T. V. Ramakrishnan, and G. V. Shivashankar (2004)
Biophys. J.
86, 3052-3059
|Abstract »|Full Text »|PDF »
Circadian Clocks in Daily and Seasonal Control of Development.
