Embryonic expression of Xenopus laevis SOX7.

SOX7, first described in Xenopus laevis by Shiozawa et al. [Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1309(1996)73], is a member, along with SOXs 17 and 18, of the F subgroup of SOX-type transcription factors. As part of a study of maternal SOX proteins that may modulate beta-catenin signaling, we isolated a XSOX7 cDNA from oocyte RNA and examined the pattern of XSOX7 expression during early development. While present maternally cell-type specific expression was first observed in the ciliated cells within the epidermis of early neurula stage embryos. As development proceeds, the pattern of XSOX7 expression becomes increasingly complex. XSOX7 is expressed in the aortic arch, the olfactory pit, the stomodeal depression, the procardiac tube, within cells of the developing embryonic vasculature, in the notochord, and within the hindbrain. XSOX7 expression continues within the hindbrain in 3-day old ( approximately stage 40) larvae. Given its widespread expression, XSOX7 is likely to be involved in a number of developmental processes.