Elsevier

Mechanisms of Development

Volume 53, Issue 1, September 1995, Pages 23-34
Mechanisms of Development

Involvement of Wnt-1 in the formation of the mes/metencephalic boundary

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Abstract

Wnt-1, a putative signaling molecule, is required before the 7 somite stage (E8.5) for the development of midbrain structures in the mouse. We show here that Wnt-1 is also needed for the formation of a boundary between the mesencephalic and metencephalic domains of the neural tube. In embryos homozygous for the Wnt-1sw allele, mesencephalic and metencephalic markers fail to segregate and the establishment of a straight limit of Otx-2 and Wnt-1 expression at the mid-hindbrain junction is impaired. In addition, as observed previously in heterotopic mes/metencephalic transplantation experiments in avian embryos, Wnt-1 expression is induced at the border of ectopic mes- and metencephalic islands observed in Wnt-1sw/sw mutants, suggesting that, in situ, interactions between mes- and metencephalic cells reinforce Wnt-1 expression at the boundary.

Keywords

Wnt-1
Otx-2
Swaying mutant
Met-mesencephalon
Boundary formation

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1

Present address: Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.