title: Migrating cells mediate long-range WNT signaling.
abstract: In amniotes, it is widely accepted that WNTs secreted by the dorsal neural tube form a concentration gradient that regulates early somite patterning and myotome organization. Here we demonstrate in the chicken embryo that WNT protein is not secreted to act at a distance, but rather loaded onto migrating neural crest cells that deliver it to somites. Inhibiting neural crest migration or ablating their population has a profound impact on the WNT response in somites. Furthermore, we show that a central player in the efficient delivery of WNT to somites is the heparan sulfate proteoglycan GPC4, expressed by neural crest. Together, our data describe a novel mode of signaling whereby WNT proteins hitch a ride on migratory neural crest cells to pattern the somites at a distance from its source.
authors.affiliation: EMBL Australia, Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI), Monash University, Building 75, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Serralbo
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Marcelle
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D002642:Chick Embryo; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D053673:Glypicans / Q000502:physiology; D009432:Neural Crest / Q000502:physiology; D019170:Somites / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D051153:Wnt Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D060449:Wnt Signaling Pathway / Q000235:genetics; D051155:Wnt1 Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D053673:Glypicans; D051153:Wnt Proteins; D051155:Wnt1 Protein
keywords: Chick embryo; Dermomyotome; Somite; WNT