A Gradient of Glycolytic Activity Coordinates FGF and Wnt Signaling during Elongation of the Body Axis in Amniote Embryos

Publication date: 27 February 2017
Source:Developmental Cell, Volume 40, Issue 4
Author(s): Masayuki Oginuma, Philippe Moncuquet, Fengzhu Xiong, Edward Karoly, Jérome Chal, Karine Guevorkian, Olivier Pourquié
Mammalian embryos transiently exhibit aerobic glycolysis (Warburg effect), a metabolic adaptation also observed in cancer cells. The role of this particular type of metabolism during vertebrate organogenesis is currently unknown. Here, we provide evidence for spatiotemporal regulation of glycolysis in the posterior region of mouse and chicken embryos. We show that a posterior glycolytic gradient is established in response to graded transcription of glycolytic enzymes downstream of fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling. We demonstrate that glycolysis controls posterior elongation of the embryonic axis by regulating cell motility in the presomitic mesoderm and by controlling specification of the paraxial mesoderm fate in the tail bud. Our results suggest that glycolysis in the tail bud coordinates Wnt and FGF signaling to promote elongation of the embryonic axis.

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Teaser

Mammalian embryos transiently exhibit aerobic glycolysis (Warburg effect). Oginuma and colleagues identify a glycolysis gradient in mouse and chick downstream of FGF in the amniote tail bud that controls posterior embryonic axis elongation. Glycolysis regulates presomitic mesoderm cell motility and Wnt signaling for specification of tail bud paraxial mesoderm fate.


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