The evolutionarily conserved RNA helicase DDX6 is a central player in post-transcriptional regulation, but its role during embryogenesis remains elusive. We here show that DDX6 enables proper cell lineage specification from pluripotent cells by analyzing Ddx6 knockout (KO) mouse embryos and employing an in vitro epiblast-like cell (EpiLC) induction system. Our study unveils that DDX6 is an important BMP signaling regulator.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMESP1 and MESP2 are transcriptional factors involved in mesoderm specification, somite boundary formation and somite polarity regulation. However, Mesp quadruple mutant zebrafish displayed only abnormal somite polarity without mesoderm specification defects. In order to re-evaluate Mesp1/Mesp2 mutants in mice, Mesp1 and Mesp2 single knockouts (KOs), and a Mesp1/Mesp2 double KO were established using genome-editing techniques without introducing selection markers commonly used before.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe actin cytoskeleton plays a central role in establishing cell polarity and shape during embryonic morphogenesis. Daam1, a member of the Formin family of actin cytoskeleton regulators, is a Dvl2-binding protein that functions in the Wnt/Planar Cell Polarity (PCP) pathway. To examine the role of the Daam proteins in mammalian development, we generated Daam-deficient mice by gene targeting and found that Daam1, but not Daam2, is necessary for fetal survival.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
November 2019
Sonic hedgehog (SHH) signaling plays a pivotal role in 2 different phases during brain development. Early SHH signaling derived from the prechordal plate (PrCP) triggers secondary induction in the forebrain, which overlies the PrCP, and the induced SHH signaling, in turn, directs late neuronal differentiation of the forebrain. Consequently, regulation in the PrCP is crucial for initiation of forebrain development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe metameric structure in vertebrates is based on the periodic formation of somites from the anterior end of the presomitic mesoderm (PSM). The segmentation boundary is defined by the Tbx6 expression domain, whose anterior limit is determined by Tbx6 protein destabilization Ripply2. However, the molecular mechanism of this process is poorly understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEmbryonic morphogenesis of a complex organism requires proper regulation of patterning and directional growth. Planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling is emerging as a crucial evolutionarily conserved mechanism whereby directional information is conveyed. PCP is thought to be established by global cues, and recent studies have revealed an instructive role of a Wnt signaling gradient in epithelial tissues of both invertebrates and vertebrates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe segmental pattern of the vertebrate body is established via the periodic formation of somites from the presomitic mesoderm (PSM). This periodical process is controlled by the cyclic and synchronized activation of Notch signaling in the PSM. Protein O-fucosyltransferase1 (Pofut1), which transfers O-fucose to the EGF domains of the Notch1 receptor, is indispensable for Notch signaling activation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPolarization of node cells along the anterior-posterior axis of mouse embryos is responsible for left-right symmetry breaking. How node cells become polarized has remained unknown, however. Wnt5a and Wnt5b are expressed posteriorly relative to the node, whereas genes for Sfrp inhibitors of Wnt signaling are expressed anteriorly.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWnt/β-catenin signals are important regulators of embryonic and adult stem cell self-renewal and differentiation and play causative roles in tumorigenesis. Purified recombinant Wnt3a protein, or Wnt3a-conditioned culture medium, has been widely used to study canonical Wnt signaling in vitro or ex vivo. To study the role of Wnt3a in embryogenesis and cancer models, we developed a Cre recombinase activatable Rosa26(Wnt3a) allele, in which a Wnt3a cDNA was inserted into the Rosa26 locus to allow for conditional, spatiotemporally defined expression of Wnt3a ligand for gain-of-function (GOF) studies in mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLrrc6 encodes a cytoplasmic protein that is expressed specifically in cells with motile cilia including the node, trachea and testes of the mice. A mutation of Lrrc6 has been identified in human patients with primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD). Mutant mice lacking Lrrc6 show typical PCD defects such as hydrocephalus and laterality defects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWnt5a, a non-canonical Wnt ligand critical for outflow tract (OFT) morphogenesis, is expressed specifically in second heart field (SHF) progenitors in the caudal splanchnic mesoderm (SpM) near the inflow tract (IFT). Using a conditional Wnt5a gain of function (GOF) allele and Islet1-Cre, we broadly over-expressed Wnt5a throughout the SHF lineage, including the entire SpM between the IFT and OFT. Wnt5a over-expression in Wnt5a null mutants can rescue the cell polarity and actin polymerization defects as well as severe SpM shortening, but fails to rescue OFT shortening.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWnt ligands regulate heart morphogenesis but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Two Formin-related proteins, DAAM1 and 2, were previously found to bind the Wnt effector Disheveled. Here, since DAAM1 and 2 nucleate actin and mediate Wnt-induced cytoskeletal changes, a floxed-allele of Daam1 was used to disrupt its function specifically in the myocardium and investigate Wnt-associated pathways.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe precise border of somites formed during mouse somitogenesis is defined by a Tbx6 expression domain, which is established by Mesp2-mediated Tbx6 suppression in the anterior part of the presomitic mesoderm (PSM). Ripply2, a target of Mesp2, is proposed to be involved in this down-regulation because Ripply2 deficiency causes an anterior expansion of the Tbx6 domain, resembling the Mesp2-null phenotype. However, it is unclear whether Ripply2 acts on Tbx6 independently or in association with Mesp2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCongenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT) affect about 1 in 500 births and are a major cause of morbidity in infants. Duplex collecting systems rank among the most common abnormalities of CAKUT, but the molecular basis for this defect is poorly understood. In mice, conditional deletion of Wnt5a in mesoderm results in bilateral duplex kidney and ureter formation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEmbryo homing and implantation occur within a crypt (implantation chamber) at the antimesometrial (AM) pole along the uterus. The mechanism by which this is achieved is not known. Here, we show that villi-like epithelial projections from the main uterine lumen toward the AM pole at regularly spaced intervals that form crypts for embryo implantation were disrupted in mice with uterine loss or gain of function of Wnt5a, or loss of function of both Ror1 and Ror2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFReestablishing homeostasis after tissue damage depends on the proper organization of stem cells and their progeny, though the repair mechanisms are unclear. The mammalian intestinal epithelium is well suited to approach this problem, as it is composed of well-delineated units called crypts of Lieberkühn. We found that Wnt5a, a noncanonical Wnt ligand, was required for crypt regeneration after injury in mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSegmentation is an organizing principle of body plans. The segmentation clock, a molecular oscillator best illustrated by the cyclic expression of Notch signalling genes, controls the periodic cleavage of somites from unsegmented presomitic mesoderm during vertebrate segmentation. Wnt3a controls the spatiotemporal expression of cyclic Notch genes; however, the underlying mechanisms remain obscure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe primary cilium is proposed to restrain the level of canonical Wnt signalling, but it was unknown how the cilium achieves this. β-catenin, a component of the canonical Wnt signalling pathway, is now shown to be sequestered to the cilium by the Wnt signalling modulator Jouberin (Jbn) to restrain Wnt responses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMyeloid cells are a feature of most tissues. Here we show that during development, retinal myeloid cells (RMCs) produce Wnt ligands to regulate blood vessel branching. In the mouse retina, where angiogenesis occurs postnatally, somatic deletion in RMCs of the Wnt ligand transporter Wntless results in increased angiogenesis in the deeper layers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWnt4 and β-catenin are both required for nephrogenesis, but studies using TCF-reporter mice suggest that canonical Wnt signaling is not activated in metanephric mesenchyme (MM) during its conversion to the epithelia of the nephron. To better define the role of Wnt signaling, we treated rat metanephric mesenchymal progenitors directly with recombinant Wnt proteins. These studies revealed that Wnt4 protein, which is required for nephron formation, induces tubule formation and differentiation markers Lim1 and E-cadherin in MM cells, but does not activate a TCF reporter or up regulate expression of canonical Wnt target gene Axin-2 and has little effect on the stabilization of β-catenin or phosphorylation of disheveled-2.
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