Regulation of cadherin expression in the chicken neural crest by the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.
In neural crest cell development, the expression of the cell adhesion proteins cadherin-7 and cadherin-11 commences after delamination of the neural crest cells from the neuroepithelium. The canonical Wnt signaling pathway is known to drive this delamination step and is a candidate for inducing expression of these cadherins at this time. This project was initiated to investigate the role of canonical Wnt signaling in the expression of cadherin-7 and cadherin-11 by treating neural crest cells with Wnt3a ligand. Expression of cadherin-11 was first confirmed in the neural crest cells for the chicken embryo. The changes in the expression level of cadherin-7 and -11 following the treatment with Wnt3a were studied using real-time RT-PCR and immunostaining. Statistically significant upregulation in the mRNA expression of cadherin-7 and cadherin-11 and in the amount of cadherin-7 and cadherin-11 protein found in cell-cell interfaces between neural crest cells was observed in response to Wnt, demonstrating that cadherin-7 and cadherin-11 expressed by the migrating neural crest cells can be regulated by the canonical Wnt pathway.
Department of Biology, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD, USA.
Abha J
AJ
Chalpe
Maneeshi
M
Prasad
Amanda J
AJ
Henke
Alicia F
AF
Paulson
D000818:Animals; D015820:Cadherins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002642:Chick Embryo; D002645:Chickens / Q000235:genetics*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D009432:Neural Crest / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D054259:Neural Tube / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D015854:Up-Regulation; D051153:Wnt Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051176:beta Catenin / Q000378:metabolism*
D015820:Cadherins; D051153:Wnt Proteins; D051176:beta Catenin