Cerberus is a head-inducing secreted factor expressed in the anterior endoderm of Spemann's organizer

  • Nature. 1996 Aug 15;382(6592):595-601. doi: 10.1038/382595a0.
T Bouwmeester  1 ,  S Kim ,  Y Sasai ,  B Lu ,  E M De Robertis
Affiliations
  • 1. Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095-1737, USA.
PMID: 8757128 DOI: 10.1038/382595a0
Abstract

An abundant cDNA enriched in Spemann's organizer, cerberus, was isolated by differential screening. It encodes a secreted protein that is expressed in the anterior endomesoderm. Microinjection of cerberus mRNA into Xenopus embryos induces ectopic heads, and duplicated hearts and livers. The results suggest a role for a molecule expressed in the anterior endoderm in the induction of head structures in the vertebrate embryo.