Vgr-1, a mammalian gene related to Xenopus Vg-1, is a member of the transforming growth factor beta gene superfamily.

The transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta)-related products of the Xenopus Vg-1 and Drosophila decapentaplegic (DPP) genes have been implicated in the control of growth and differentiation during embryogenesis. We have isolated a mouse cDNA, Vgr-1, that encodes a polypeptide structurally related to Xenopus Vg-1. Sequence comparisons indicate that the Vgr-1 protein belongs to a family of DPP-like gene products within the TGF-beta superfamily. The levels of Vgr-1 RNA were determined in embryos and tissues isolated at various stages of development. A 3.5-kilobase mRNA increases throughout development and into adulthood in many tissues and in F9 teratocarcinoma cells differentiating into endoderm in response to retinoic acid and cAMP. The amino acid homologies and patterns of expression suggest that, like the DPP gene product, Vgr-1 plays a role at various stages of development.

[1]  V. Rosen,et al.  Novel regulators of bone formation: molecular clones and activities. , 1988, Science.

[2]  R. Derynck,et al.  A new type of transforming growth factor‐beta, TGF‐beta 3. , 1988, The EMBO journal.

[3]  D. Melton,et al.  Platelet-derived growth factor A chain is maternally encoded in Xenopus embryos. , 1988, Science.

[4]  M. Raff,et al.  Ciliary neurotrophic factor induces type-2 astrocyte differentiation in culture , 1988, Nature.

[5]  P. ten Dijke,et al.  Identification of another member of the transforming growth factor type beta gene family. , 1988, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[6]  W. Richardson,et al.  Platelet-derived growth factor from astrocytes drives the clock that times oligodendrocyte development in culture , 1988, Nature.

[7]  A. McMahon,et al.  Expression of the FGF‐related proto‐oncogene int‐2 during gastrulation and neurulation in the mouse. , 1988, The EMBO journal.

[8]  J. Slack,et al.  Mesoderm-inducing factors: a small class of molecules. , 1988, Development.

[9]  M. Sporn,et al.  Mesoderm induction in amphibians: the role of TGF-beta 2-like factors. , 1988, Science.

[10]  D. L. Weeks,et al.  A maternal mRNA localized to the vegetal hemisphere in xenopus eggs codes for a growth factor related to TGF-β , 1987, Cell.

[11]  M. Kirschner,et al.  Synergistic induction of mesoderm by FGF and TGF-β and the identification of an mRNA coding for FGF in the early xenopus embryo , 1987, Cell.

[12]  W. Gelbart,et al.  The decapentaplegic gene is required for dorsal-ventral patterning of the Drosophila embryo. , 1987, Genes & development.

[13]  W. Gelbart,et al.  Decapentaplegic transcripts are localized along the dorsal‐ventral axis of the Drosophila embryo. , 1987, The EMBO journal.

[14]  J. Gurdon,et al.  A homeobox-containing marker of posterior neural differentiation shows the importance of predetermination in neural induction , 1987, Cell.

[15]  D. Melton.  Translocation of a localized maternal mRNA to the vegetal pole of Xenopus oocytes , 1987, Nature.

[16]  R. Krumlauf,et al.  Developmental and spatial patterns of expression of the mouse homeobox gene, Hox 2.1. , 1987, Development.

[17]  J. Gurdon.  Embryonic induction--molecular prospects. , 1987, Development.

[18]  W. Gelbart,et al.  A transcript from a Drosophila pattern gene predicts a protein homologous to the transforming growth factor-β family , 1987, Nature.

[19]  G. Heijne.  A new method for predicting signal sequence cleavage sites. , 1986 .

[20]  P. Donahoe,et al.  Isolation of the bovine and human genes for müllerian inhibiting substance and expression of the human gene in animal cells , 1986, Cell.

[21]  P. Seeburg,et al.  Structure of two human ovarian inhibins. , 1986, Biochemical and biophysical research communications.

[22]  N. Ling,et al.  Complementary DNA sequences of ovarian follicular fluid inhibin show precursor structure and homology with transforming growth factor-β , 1985, Nature.

[23]  D. L. Weeks,et al.  Identification and cloning of localized maternal RNAs from xenopus eggs , 1985, Cell.

[24]  Anita B. Roberts,et al.  Human transforming growth factor-β complementary DNA sequence and expression in normal and transformed cells , 1985, Nature.

[25]  S. Artavanis-Tsakonas,et al.  opa: A novel family of transcribed repeats shared by the Notch locus and other developmentally regulated loci in D. melanogaster , 1985, Cell.

[26]  S. Carroll,et al.  Common properties of proteins encoded by the Antennapedia complex genes of Drosophila melanogaster. , 1985, Cold Spring Harbor symposia on quantitative biology.

[27]  T. Taniguchi,et al.  Unique structure of murine interleukin-2 as deduced from cloned cDNAs , 1985, Nature.

[28]  G. Church,et al.  Genomic sequencing. , 1993, Methods in molecular biology.

[29]  D Perlman,et al.  A putative signal peptidase recognition site and sequence in eukaryotic and prokaryotic signal peptides. , 1983, Journal of molecular biology.

[30]  J Messing,et al.  A system for shotgun DNA sequencing. , 1981, Nucleic acids research.

[31]  A. Smith,et al.  DNA sequence analysis by primed synthesis. , 1980, Methods in enzymology.

[32]  Choh Hao Li.  Hormonal Proteins and Peptides , 1973 .