Secreted protein Noggin4 participates in the formation of forebrain structures in Xenopus laevis by inhibiting the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway

Abstract

Noggin proteins are important regulators of the early development of the vertebrate neural system. Previously, it has been traditionally thought that vertebrates have only one noggin gene (Noggin1), whose main function is the inhibition of BMP signaling pathway during the formation of dorsoventral polarity in embryos. Then other proteins of this family were discovered, and the studies of Noggin2 protein showed that noggin proteins also participate in the modulation of Nodal/Activin and Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathways in the early development of amphibian head structures. The purpose of this study is to investigate the properties of another noggin protein, Noggin4. We proved that Noggin4 plays an important role in the formation of head structure in clawed frog, since it inhibits the activity of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway. At the same time, unlike Noggin1 and Noggin2, Noggin4 does not inhibit the activity of TGF-beta signaling pathways (BMP and Nodal/Activin).