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. 1981 Mar;190(2):92-96.
doi: 10.1007/BF00848401.

Use of lectins as probes for analyzing embryonic induction

Kenzo Takata  1 , Kiyoko Yamazaki Yamamoto  1 , Ruby Ozawa  1
Affiliations

Use of lectins as probes for analyzing embryonic induction

Kenzo Takata et al. Wilehm Roux Arch Dev Biol. 1981 Mar.

Abstract

Lectins were used as probes to investigate the mechanism of embryonic induction. Concanavalin (Con A) and gorse agglutinin out of 7 species of lectins tested were found to have strong neural-inducing effect on the presumptive ectoderm of newt gastrulae. Their effects were abolished by the addition of α-methyl-D-mannoside and α-L-fucose, respectively. Succinyl-Con A had a weak inducing activity in comparison to Con A. Autoradiography of3H-Con A-treated explants revealed that Con A bound to the inner surface, but not to the outer surface of ectoderm and was successively incorporated into cytoplasm.3H-Thymidine incorporation was lower in the first half and higher in the second half of the 60 h cultivation period in Con A-treated explants as compared to controls.Con A-Sepharose had a strong inductive effect. This suggests that neural induction is caused through Con A binding to the plasma membrane, but not through incorporation into the cytoplasm of the ectoderm cells.

Keywords: Con A-Sepharose; Embryonic induction; Lectin.

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