title: Wnt-1-dependent regulation of local E-cadherin and alpha N-catenin expression in the embryonic mouse brain.
abstract: E-cadherin is transiently expressed in local regions of the embryonic mouse brain, which include several patchy areas on the mesencephalon and diencephalon and their roof plate and part of cerebellar rudiments. In the present study, we compared this E-cadherin expression with that of Wnt-1, which occurs in specific zones in the embryonic brain, and found certain spatiotemporal relations between them: Wnt-1 expression tended to run parallel or overlap with peripheries of the E-cadherin-positive areas. For example, in the dorsal midline, Wnt-1 was expressed at the middle of the roof plate, while E-cadherin was absent in the middle zone but detected in two arrays of marginal roof plate cells. Furthermore, alpha N-catenin, a cadherin-associated protein, was found to occur at the roof plate of the mesencephalon and diencephalon, coinciding with Wnt-1 expression. The expression of these molecules was then studied in two alleles of the Wnt-1 mutation, Wnt-1sw and Wnt-1neo. In mice homozygous for these mutant genes, E-cadherin expression in the roof plate was up-regulated; the middle E-cadherin-negative zone disappeared. Moreover, E-cadherin expression in the roof plate began earlier in the mutant mice than in wild-type mice. On the contrary, alpha N-catenin expression in the dorsal midline was suppressed in these mutants. These changes in cadherin and catenin expression occurred at the level of mRNA expression. These results suggest that the Wnt-1 signal is, either directly or indirectly, involved in the regulation of expression of E-cadherin and alpha N-catenin in restricted regions of the embryonic brain. This mechanism may contribute to the patterning of the expression of these adhesion-related proteins in the embryonic brain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Science, Kyoto University, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shimamura
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hirano
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: McMahon
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takeichi
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001921:Brain / Q000196:embryology*; D015820:Cadherins / Q000235:genetics*; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D051379:Mice; D008817:Mice, Mutant Strains; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009024:Morphogenesis / Q000235:genetics; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D051153:Wnt Proteins; D051155:Wnt1 Protein; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; D051178:alpha Catenin
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; C495272:Ctnna1 protein, mouse; C486820:Ctnna2 protein, mouse; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D051153:Wnt Proteins; D051155:Wnt1 Protein; C495246:Wnt1 protein, mouse; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; D051178:alpha Catenin