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Cell type-specific activation of actin genes in the early amphibian embryo

Abstract

Muscle actin genes are the earliest yet described to show cell type-specific activation in amphibian embryos. Gene-specific probes show that α-skeletal and α-cardiac actin genes start to be transcribed simultaneously at the end of gastrulation, but only in those regions of the mesoderm that subsequently form embryonic muscle. Their expression provides a molecular marker for early cell determination.

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Mohun, T., Brennan, S., Dathan, N. et al. Cell type-specific activation of actin genes in the early amphibian embryo. Nature 311, 716–721 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1038/311716a0

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