title: Abnormal lens morphogenesis and ectopic lens formation in the absence of beta-catenin function.
abstract: beta-Catenin plays a key role in cadherin-mediated cell adhesion as well as in canonical Wnt signaling. To study the role of beta-catenin during eye development, we used conditional Cre/loxP system in mouse to inactivate beta-catenin in developing lens and retina. Inactivation of beta-catenin does not suppress lens fate, but instead results in abnormal morphogenesis of the lens. Using BAT-gal reporter mice, we show that beta-catenin-mediated Wnt signaling is notably absent from lens and neuroretina throughout eye development. The observed defect is therefore likely due to the cytoskeletal role of beta-catenin, and is accompanied by impaired epithelial cell adhesion. In contrast, inactivation of beta-catenin in the nasal ectoderm, an area with active Wnt signaling, results in formation of crystallin-positive ectopic lentoid bodies. These data suggest that, outside of the normal lens, beta-catenin functions as a coactivator of canonical Wnt signaling to suppress lens fate.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Genetics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kreslova
authors.forename: Ondrej
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Machon
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ruzickova
authors.forename: Jitka
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lachova
authors.forename: Eric F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Wawrousek
authors.forename: Rolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kemler
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krauss
authors.forename: Joram
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Piatigorsky
authors.forename: Zbynek
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kozmik
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002828:Choristoma / Q000151:congenital / Q000235:genetics*; D005123:Eye / Q000196:embryology; D007908:Lens, Crystalline / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology*; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009024:Morphogenesis / Q000235:genetics*; D009668:Nose Diseases / Q000151:congenital / Q000235:genetics*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D051153:Wnt Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D051176:beta Catenin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D051153:Wnt Proteins; D051176:beta Catenin