THE HOMEODOMAIN GENE XENOPUS DISTAL-LESS-LIKE-2 (XDLL-2) IS REGULATEDBY A CONSERVED MECHANISM IN AMPHIBIAN AND MAMMALIAN EPIDERMIS

Xenopus Distal-less-like-2 (Xdll-2) is a gene encoding a homeodomain p rotein expressed predominantly in the epidermis of frog embryos. We re port here that this epidermal expression is specified by a regulatory 5' flanking DNA region located within 933 bp of the start of transcrip tion. This regulatory DNA also confers upon a globin reporter gene cal cium-inducible expression in cultured murine keratinocytes and inducti on-dependent repression in frog ectodermal cells treated in vitro with activin A. These results reveal a new example of phylogenetically con served, tissue-specific transcriptional regulation of a homeodomain ge ne. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.