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Figure 1 | BMC Developmental Biology

Figure 1

From: Development of the mammalian liver and ventral pancreas is dependent on GATA4

Figure 1

GATA4 is expressed in multiple tissues that contribute to development of the ventral pancreas and liver. Immunohistochemistry identifying (brown nuclear staining) HNF4α (A) and GATA4 (B-F) expression in the ventral endoderm of sagittal (A, B) or transverse (C-F) sections of wild type embryos. A. In 4 somite stage embryos, HNF4α expression is restricted to the extra-embryonic visceral endoderm (white arrowhead). The definitive ventral foregut endoderm does not express HNF4α (demarcated by black arrowheads). B. GATA4 is expressed in the ventral foregut endoderm (black arrow), visceral endoderm (white arrowhead) and the cardiac mesoderm (c) of 4 somite stage embryos. By the 16 somite stage (C, D), GATA4 is strongly expressed in the septum transversum mesenchyme (white arrowhead) with a lower level of expression in the liver bud (li; outlined in C), and in the ventral pancreas (p; outlined in D). In 25 somite stage embryos (E, F), no GATA4 expression can be detected in the expanded liver bud (outlined in E), but GATA4 expression is maintained in the septum transversum mesenchyme (E; white arrowhead) and ventral pancreas (outlined in F). The midgut endoderm also expresses GATA4 at this stage (black arrowheads). fg, foregut. g, gut tube. Scale bar = 50 μM.

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