title: Activation of Wnt/β-catenin signalling affects differentiation of cells arising from the cerebellar ventricular zone.
abstract: Development of the cerebellum proceeds under the precise spatio-temporal control of several key developmental signalling pathways, including the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. We recently reported the activity of Wnt/β-catenin signalling in the perinatal cerebellar ventricular zone (VZ), a germinal centre in the developing cerebellum that gives rise to GABAergic and glial cells. In order to investigate the normal function of Wnt/β-catenin signalling in the VZ and the cell lineages it gives rise to, we used a combination of ex vivo cerebellar slice culture and in vivo genetic manipulation to dysregulate its activity during late embryonic development. Activation of the pathway at the cerebellar ventricular zone led to a reduction in the number of cells expressing the glial lineage markers Sox9 and GFAP and the interneuron marker Pax2, but had no consistent effect on either proliferation or apoptosis. Our findings suggest that activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in the cerebellar ventricular zone causes a shift in the cell types produced, most likely due to disruption of normal differentiation. Thus, we propose that regulation of Wnt/β-catenin signalling levels are required for normal development of cells arising from the cerebellar ventricular zone during late embryogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Integrative Physiology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Hayden J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Selvadurai
authors.forename: John O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Mason
mesh_terms: D025601:Adenomatous Polyposis Coli Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D019070:Cell Lineage; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D018274:Electroporation; D038362:Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D000071679:Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 beta; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D019426:Integrases / Q000378:metabolism; D007395:Interneurons / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000378:metabolism; D055758:SOX9 Transcription Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D060449:Wnt Signaling Pathway / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D025601:Adenomatous Polyposis Coli Protein; D015415:Biomarkers; D055758:SOX9 Transcription Factor; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D000071679:Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 beta; D038362:Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3; C045073:Cre recombinase; D019426:Integrases