Identification of immediate early transcriptional targets of ephrin-B1 forward signaling

The goal of this study was to identify immediate early transcriptional targets of ephrin-B1 forward signaling that are relevant to palatogenesis. The Ephs compose a family of receptor tyrosine kinase signaling molecules that can be activated by their cognate ligands, the ephrins. Despite the importance of Eph/ephrin signaling in a wide variety of developmental and cell biological processes, a potential downstream transcriptional response has not been explored. To understand the role of ephrin-B1 signaling in palatogenesis, we examined transcriptional response to ephrin-B1 in a primary mouse embryonic palatal shelf cell culture system. We find an immediate early signature of gene expression that reflects the activation of Erk/MAPK signaling by ephrin-B1 signaling in the palatal shelves. Induction of primary palate cells with 2 ug/ml of pre-clustered ephrin-B1 for one hour. Uninduced primary palate cells are the control. Four replicates each.