Role of ubiquitin system in Xenopus gastrulation movements

近轴原钙粘蛋白（PAPC）已被证明参与早期胚胎发生过程中原肠胚形成细胞的运动。在非洲爪蟾和斑马鱼的原肠胚早期，它首先在背边缘区表达，随后在原肠胚形成期间仅限于近轴中胚层。利用非洲爪蟾胚胎，我们发现PAPC也在蛋白水平上受到调节，在原肠胚晚期，在轴向中胚层中被降解并从质膜中排出。我们的研究结果表明，一种新的机制，调节细胞粘附蛋白，该系统在脊椎动物胚胎发生中起着至关重要的作用。

Paraxial protocadherin(PAPC) has been shown to be involved in gastrulation cell movements during early embryogenesis. It is first expressed in the dorsal marginal zone at early gastrula stage and subsequently restricted to paraxial mesoderm during gastrulation in Xenopus and zebrafish. Using Xenopus embryos, we found that PAPC is regulated also at the protein level is degraded and excluded from the plasma membrane in the axial mesoderm at late gastrula stage. Our findings suggest a novel mechanism of regulation of a cell adhesion protein and that this system plays a crucial role in vertebrate embryogenesis.