Cvh. Baker et al., A XENOPUS C-KIT RELATED RECEPTOR TYROSINE KINASE EXPRESSED IN MIGRATING STEM-CELLS OF THE LATERAL-LINE SYSTEM, Mechanisms of development, 50(2-3), 1995, pp. 217-228
The mammalian c-kit receptor tyrosine kinase gene is required during e
mbryogenesis for the survival and/or proliferation of three migrating
stem cell populations: primordial germ cells, haematopoietic stem cell
s and neural crest-derived melanoblasts. We have cloned a Xenopus gene
, XKrkl, whose closest relative is c-kit. Differences in the expressio
n pattern suggest that XKrkl is not the Xenopus homologue of c-kit; ho
wever, it is expressed in a migrating stem cell population, the precur
sor cells for the mechanosensory lateral line system. XKrkl is the fir
st reported marker for lateral line stem cells.