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Role of Thyroid Hormone Receptor in Amphibian Development

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Thyroid Hormone Nuclear Receptor

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1801))

Abstract

The amphibian Xenopus laevis has long been used as a model for studying vertebrate cell and developmental biology largely due to the easiness to manipulate this system in vivo and in vitro. While most of the developmental studies have been on Xenopus embryogenesis, considerable efforts have been made to understand its metamorphosis, a process mimicking postembryonic development in mammals when many organs mature into their adult forms in the presence of high levels of thyroid hormone (T3). Amphibian metamorphosis is totally dependent on T3 and offers a number of advantages for experimental analyses compared to the late stage, uterus-enclosed mammalian embryos. Earlier studies on metamorphosis in Xenopus laevis have revealed dual functions of T3 receptors (TR) during premetamorphic development and metamorphosis as well as important roles of TR-interacting corepressors and coactivators during these two periods, respectively. The development of gene-editing technologies that functions in amphibians in recent years has made possible for the first time to study function of endogenous TRs, especially in the highly related diploid anuran species Xenopus tropicalis. Here, we first review the current mechanistic understanding of the regulation of metamorphosis by T3 and TR, and then describe a detailed method to use TALEN to knock out TRα for studying its role in gene regulation by T3 in vivo and Xenopus development.

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Acknowledgments

This work in the laboratory was supported by the Intramural Research Program of National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section on Molecular Morphogenesis, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, USA

    Liezhen Fu, Luan Wen & Yun-Bo Shi

Authors
  1. Liezhen Fu
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  2. Luan Wen
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  3. Yun-Bo Shi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yun-Bo Shi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre Léon Bérard, Cancer Research Center of Lyon, Lyon, France

    Michelina Plateroti

  2. École normale supérieure de Lyon, Lyon, France

    Jacques Samarut

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Fu, L., Wen, L., Shi, YB. (2018). Role of Thyroid Hormone Receptor in Amphibian Development. In: Plateroti, M., Samarut, J. (eds) Thyroid Hormone Nuclear Receptor. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1801. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7902-8_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7902-8_20

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-7901-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-7902-8

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