DAN is a secreted glycoprotein related to Xenopus cerberus

We report that DAN, a potential cell cycle regulator and tumour suppressor, is a secreted glycoprotein related to Xenopus cerberus. DAN, cerberus, its mouse relative Cer-1/cer-1/Cerberus-like/Cerr1, and the recently described factor DRM/Gremlin, appear to be members of the cystine knot superfamily, which includes TGF beta s and BMPs. Like cerberus and mCer-1, DAN induced c ement glands as well as markers of anterior neural tissue and endoderm in X enopus animal cap assays, features of BMP signalling blockade. During mouse embryogenesis, Dan was expressed from E8.5 in cranial mesenchyme and somit es, then later in limb and facial mesenchyme. The pattern in somites was hi ghly dynamic, with transcripts initially localized to the caudal half of th e nascent epithelial somite, then, after maturation, to sclerotomal cells a djacent to the neural tube. Dan was also expressed in the developing myotom e. The expression domains include sites in which BMP inhibition is known to be important for development. Thus, DAN appears to be a secreted factor be longing to the cystine knot superfamily, and one of a growing number of ant agonists acting to modulate BMP signalling during development. (C) 1998 Els evier Science ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.