title: Epithelia-derived wingless regulates dendrite directional growth of drosophila ddaE neuron through the Fz-Fmi-Dsh-Rac1 pathway.
abstract: Proper dendrite patterning is critical for the receiving and processing of information in the nervous system. Cell-autonomous molecules have been extensively studied in dendrite morphogenesis; however, the regulatory mechanisms of environmental factors in dendrite growth remain to be elucidated.
  
  
  
  By evaluating the angle between two primary dendrites (PD-Angle), we found that the directional growth of the primary dendrites of a Drosophila periphery sensory neuron ddaE is regulated by the morphogen molecule Wingless (Wg). During the early stage of dendrite growth, Wg is expressed in a group of epithelial cells posteriorly adjacent to ddaE. When Wg expression is reduced or shifted anteriorly, the PD-Angle is markedly decreased. Furthermore, Wg receptor Frizzled functions together with Flamingo and Dishevelled in transducing the Wg signal into ddaE neuron, and the downstream signal is mediated by non-canonical Wnt pathway through Rac1.
  
  
  
  In conclusion, we reveal that epithelia-derived Wg plays a repulsive role in regulating the directional growth of dendrites through the non-canonical Wnt pathway. Thus, our findings provide strong in vivo evidence on how environmental signals serve as spatial cues for dendrite patterning.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoting
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Beijing Institutes of Life Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: Huan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: Tongtong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China. liyan@ibp.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003712:Dendrites / Q000378:metabolism*; D015536:Down-Regulation; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000378:metabolism*; D004848:Epithelium / Q000378:metabolism*; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D015398:Signal Transduction; D051155:Wnt1 Protein / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D051155:Wnt1 Protein; C074622:wg protein, Drosophila
keywords: Dendrite directional growth; Epithelia-derived Wingless; Flamingo; Frizzled; non-canonical Wnt pathway