Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 Aug 17.
Published in final edited form as: Wiley Interdiscip Rev Dev Biol. 2011 Dec 27;1(2):253–266. doi: 10.1002/wdev.25

Figure 5. Maintenance of the mesodermal progenitors.

Figure 5

The mesodermal progenitors (red) are located at the most posterior end of the embryo, and they move anteriorly as they differentiate (blue color) and join the somites. Neural progenitors are also located in this region (green), and they differentiate (light green) to join the neural tube. Brachyury works in the mesodermal progenitors to maintain wnt transcription, and to induce transcription of cyp26a1, which degrades the somite-produced retinoic acid (RA), that would otherwise inhibit brachyury transcription. Shown is the most posterior end of a somitogenesis stage embryo.