Wnt signaling plays an essential role in neuronal specification of the dorsal spinal cord
- 1Kondoh Differentiation Signaling Project, Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology (ERATO), Japan Science and Technology Corporation (JST), Kinki Invention Center, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8305, Japan; 2Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan; 3Center for Molecular and Developmental Biology, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan; 4Center for Integrative Bioscience, Okazaki National Research Institutes, Okazaki, Aichi 444-8585, Japan
Abstract
In the developing spinal cord, signals from the roof plate are required for the development of three classes of dorsal interneuron: D1, D2, and D3, listed from dorsal to ventral. Here, we demonstrate that absence of Wnt1 and Wnt3a, normally expressed in the roof plate, leads to diminished development of D1 and D2 neurons and a compensatory increase in D3 neuron populations. This occurs without significantly altered expression of BMP and related genes in the roof plate. Moreover, Wnt3a protein induces expression of D1 and D2 markers in the isolated medial region of the chick neural plate, and Noggin does not interfere with this induction. Thus, Wnt signaling plays a critical role in the specification of cell types for dorsal interneurons.
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Footnotes
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Present addresses: 5Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan; 6Center for Developmental Biology, RIKEN, Kobe 650-0047, Japan.
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↵7 Corresponding author.
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E-MAIL stakada{at}take.biophys.kyoto-u.ac.jp; FAX 81-75-753-4265.
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Article and publication are at http://www.genesdev.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gad.937102.
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- Received August 13, 2001.
- Accepted January 10, 2002.
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
