title: Wnt/beta-catenin signaling and body plan formation in mouse embryos.
abstract: Wnt/beta-catenin signaling plays fundamental roles in body patterning in many invertebrate and vertebrate species, by acting as a key regulator of germ layer and body axis specification. This article focuses on the roles of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling in mouse early embryos, which exhibit a unique mode of development compared to non-mammalian vertebrates. Current experimental evidence suggests that Wnt/beta-catenin signaling is not essential for patterning embryos before implantation. However, Wnt/beta-catenin signaling regulates critical developmental events after implantation, namely the patterning of visceral endoderm, the induction of primitive streak, and the formation of anterior neural ectoderm. While Wnt/beta-catenin signaling regulates the body axis formation in both mouse and frog, the mode of its action is significantly diverged between these two vertebrate species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Biochemistry and Physiology, Institute for Biogenesis Research, University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine, 651 Ilalo Street, Honolulu, 96813, USA. marikawa@hawaii.edu
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Marikawa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000378:metabolism; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian; D047108:Embryonic Development; D004707:Endoderm / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D009420:Nervous System / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D051153:Wnt Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D014982:Xenopus laevis; D051176:beta Catenin / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D051153:Wnt Proteins; D051176:beta Catenin