Unsuspected role for the T-cell leukemia protein SCL/tal-1 in vascular development

Jane E. Visvader; Yuko Fujiwara; Stuart H. Orkin

Unsuspected role for the T-cell leukemia protein SCL/tal-1 in vascular development

Division of Hematology–Oncology, Children’s Hospital and the Dana Farber Cancer Center, Department of Pediatrics, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115 USA

Abstract

The transcription factor SCL/tal-1 is essential for blood cell development. Though it is also expressed in vascular endothelium, SCL has been considered dispensable for vessel formation. Through transgenic rescue of hematopoietic defects of SCL^−/− embryos and analysis of chimeras generated with SCL^−/− ES cells tagged with a transgene expressed in vascular endothelial cells, we show that SCL is essential for angiogenic remodeling of the yolk sac capillary network into complex vitelline vessels. These findings establish a role for SCL in embryonic angiogenesis and argue for critical functions in both embryonic blood and vascular cells, the descendents of the presumptive hemangioblast.

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Footnotes

↵These authors contributed equally to this work.
↵Present address: Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, Australia.
↵Corresponding author.
E-MAIL orkin{at}rascal.med.harvard.edu; FAX (617) 355-7262.
- Received October 24, 1997.
- Accepted December 12, 1997.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press