Dataset Information

?-catenin regulates Pax3 and Cdx2 for caudal neural tube closure and elongation.

ABSTRACT: Non-canonical Wnt/planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling plays a primary role in the convergent extension that drives neural tube closure and body axis elongation. PCP signaling gene mutations cause severe neural tube defects (NTDs). However, the role of canonical Wnt/?-catenin signaling in neural tube closure and NTDs remains poorly understood. This study shows that conditional gene targeting of ?-catenin in the dorsal neural folds of mouse embryos represses the expression of the homeobox-containing genes Pax3 and Cdx2 at the dorsal posterior neuropore (PNP), and subsequently diminishes the expression of the Wnt/?-catenin signaling target genes T, Tbx6 and Fgf8 at the tail bud, leading to spina bifida aperta, caudal axis bending and tail truncation. We demonstrate that Pax3 and Cdx2 are novel downstream targets of Wnt/?-catenin signaling. Transgenic activation of Pax3 cDNA can rescue the closure defect in the ?-catenin mutants, suggesting that Pax3 is a key downstream effector of ?-catenin signaling in the PNP closure process. Cdx2 is known to be crucial in posterior axis elongation and in neural tube closure. We found that Cdx2 expression is also repressed in the dorsal PNPs of Pax3-null embryos. However, the ectopically activated Pax3 in the ?-catenin mutants cannot restore Cdx2 mRNA in the dorsal PNP, suggesting that the presence of both ?-catenin and Pax3 is required for regional Cdx2 expression. Thus, ?-catenin signaling is required for caudal neural tube closure and elongation, acting through the transcriptional regulation of key target genes in the PNP.

SUBMITTER: Zhao T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3865756 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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β-catenin regulates Pax3 and Cdx2 for caudal neural tube closure and elongation.

Zhao Tianyu T Gan Qini Q Stokes Arjun A Lassiter Rhonda N T RN Wang Yongping Y Chan Jason J Han Jane X JX Pleasure David E DE Epstein Jonathan A JA Zhou Chengji J CJ

Development (Cambridge, England) 20131127 1

Non-canonical Wnt/planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling plays a primary role in the convergent extension that drives neural tube closure and body axis elongation. PCP signaling gene mutations cause severe neural tube defects (NTDs). However, the role of canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling in neural tube closure and NTDs remains poorly understood. This study shows that conditional gene targeting of β-catenin in the dorsal neural folds of mouse embryos represses the expression of the homeobox-contain ...[more]

PMID: 24284205

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Project description:During vertebrate axis extension, adjacent tissue layers undergo profound morphological changes: within the neuroepithelium, neural tube closure and neural crest formation are occurring, while within the paraxial mesoderm somites are segmenting from the presomitic mesoderm (PSM). Little is known about the signals between these tissues that regulate their coordinated morphogenesis. Here, we analyze the posterior axis truncation of mouse Fgf3 null homozygotes and demonstrate that the earliest role of PSM-derived FGF3 is to regulate BMP signals in the adjacent neuroepithelium. FGF3 loss causes elevated BMP signals leading to increased neuroepithelium proliferation, delay in neural tube closure and premature neural crest specification. We demonstrate that elevated BMP4 depletes PSM progenitors in vitro, phenocopying the Fgf3 mutant, suggesting that excessive BMP signals cause the Fgf3 axis defect. To test this in vivo we increased BMP signaling in Fgf3 mutants by removing one copy of Noggin, which encodes a BMP antagonist. In such mutants, all parameters of the Fgf3 phenotype were exacerbated: neural tube closure delay, premature neural crest specification, and premature axis termination. Conversely, genetically decreasing BMP signaling in Fgf3 mutants, via loss of BMP receptor activity, alleviates morphological defects. Aberrant apoptosis is observed in the Fgf3 mutant tailbud. However, we demonstrate that cell death does not cause the Fgf3 phenotype: blocking apoptosis via deletion of pro-apoptotic genes surprisingly increases all Fgf3 defects including causing spina bifida. We demonstrate that this counterintuitive consequence of blocking apoptosis is caused by the increased survival of BMP-producing cells in the neuroepithelium. Thus, we show that FGF3 in the caudal vertebrate embryo regulates BMP signaling in the neuroepithelium, which in turn regulates neural tube closure, neural crest specification and axis termination. Uncovering this FGF3-BMP signaling axis is a major advance toward understanding how these tissue layers interact during axis extension with important implications in human disease.

Dataset Information

?-catenin regulates Pax3 and Cdx2 for caudal neural tube closure and elongation.

Publications

β-catenin regulates Pax3 and Cdx2 for caudal neural tube closure and elongation.

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