The Wnt's Tale

Croce, Jenifer C.; Holstein, Thomas W.

doi:10.1002/9781118444122.ch12

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 114 publications

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“…This clearly suggests an additional function of Wnt/β-catenin signalling for maintaining and/or patterning the cnidarian nervous system. Since the oral end of the cnidarian body plan is considered to represent the posterior end of the bilaterian AP body axis 61 62 63 , Wnt/β-catenin signalling might also be involved in the oral–aboral patterning of the pervasive cnidarian nerve net. Bmp signalling was also postulated, however, to have a role in maintaining RFa + neurons at the planula stage 36 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sequential actions of β-catenin and Bmp pattern the oral nerve net in Nematostella vectensis

et al. 2014

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Animal evolution is closely linked to the emergence of the nervous system. At present it is unknown how the basic mechanisms of neural induction and formation of central nervous systems evolved. We addressed this question in Nematostella vectensis, a member of cnidarians, the ancient sister group of bilaterians. We found that β-catenin signalling is crucial for the early induction of the embryonic nervous system. β-Catenin activity at the blastopore induces specific neurogenic genes required for development of the oral nervous system. β-Catenin signalling induces also Bmp signalling, which, at later larval stages, becomes indispensible for the maintenance and asymmetric patterning of the oral nervous system along the primary and secondary (directive) axes. We hypothesize that the consecutive and functionally linked involvement of β-catenin and Bmp signalling in the formation of the cnidarian oral nervous system reflects an ancestral mechanism that evolved before the cnidarian/bilaterian split.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sequential actions of β-catenin and Bmp pattern the oral nerve net in Nematostella vectensis

et al. 2014

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“…Genome comparisons between vertebrates and invertebrates reveal a remarkable conservation of the canonical Wnt signaling pathway, with relatively little expansion of most Wnt pathway component genes in general (Croce & Holstein, 2014 ; but see also Gray et al., 2009 for an exception). However, a much greater diversity of vertebrate TCF/LEF transcription factors is observed (Cadigan & Waterman, 2012 ; Hoppler & Kavanagh, 2007 ; Hoppler & Waterman, 2014 ; Mao & Byers, 2011 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolutionary diversification of the canonical Wnt signaling effector TCF/LEF in chordates

et al. 2022

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Wnt signaling is essential during animal development and regeneration, but also plays an important role in diseases such as cancer and diabetes. The canonical Wnt signaling pathway is one of the most conserved signaling cascades in the animal kingdom, with the T‐cell factor/lymphoid enhancer factor (TCF/LEF) proteins being the major mediators of Wnt/β‐catenin‐regulated gene expression. In comparison with invertebrates, vertebrates possess a high diversity of TCF/LEF family genes, implicating this as a possible key change to Wnt signaling at the evolutionary origin of vertebrates. However, the precise nature of this diversification is only poorly understood. The aim of this study is to clarify orthology, paralogy, and isoform relationships within the TCF/LEF gene family within chordates via in silico comparative study of TCF/LEF gene structure, molecular phylogeny, and gene synteny. Our results support the notion that the four TCF/LEF paralog subfamilies in jawed vertebrates (gnathostomes) evolved via the two rounds of whole‐genome duplications that occurred during early vertebrate evolution. Importantly, gene structure comparisons and synteny analysis of jawless vertebrate (cyclostome) TCFs suggest that a TCF7L2‐like form of gene structure is a close proxy for the ancestral vertebrate structure. In conclusion, we propose a detailed evolutionary path based on a new pre‐whole‐genome duplication vertebrate TCF gene model. This ancestor gene model highlights the chordate and vertebrate innovations of TCF/LEF gene structure, providing the foundation for understanding the role of Wnt/β‐catenin signaling in vertebrate evolution.

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Cell‐to‐Cell Signalling in Development: Wnt Signalling

Hoppler

Nakamura

2014

Encyclopedia of Life Sciences

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Wnt signalling is an important cell‐to‐cell signalling mechanism, which is generally conserved among multicellular animals. Wnt signalling operates in the embryo and in adult stem cells, but also in human cancers. Frizzled receptors in the cell membrane are critical functional intermediaries between the extracellular Wnt signal and diverse signal transduction mechanisms that can be activated inside different responding cells. Coreceptors are involved in selecting more specific intracellular signal transduction mechanisms. Frizzled receptors and other Wnt signalling molecules are localised in cells to coordinate planar cell polarity in epithelial tissues and also to regulate morphogenetic movements in embryos. A well‐studied intracellular Wnt signal transduction mechanism promotes stabilisation and nuclear localisation of the protein β‐catenin to regulate transcription of specific target genes by interacting with deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) ‐binding transcription factor proteins, such as the TCF/LEF proteins. Key Concepts: Wnt signalling functions in the embryo, to regulate stem cells and in disease such as cancer. Wnt signalling mechanisms regulate important cellular processes, such as cell fate specification, cell proliferation, cell differentiation, axon guidance and morphogenesis. Wnt proteins are lipid‐modified secreted signals. Frizzled proteins function as cell membrane receptors for Wnt signals. Wnt/Frizzled signalling activates a network of diverse intracellular signal transduction pathways. One conserved branch of Wnt signal transduction causes stabilisation and nuclear localisation of the protein β‐catenin. Nuclear β‐catenin regulates transcription of specific target genes by interacting with DNA‐binding proteins, such as TCF/LEF proteins. Other, β‐catenin‐independent Wnt signal transduction mechanisms also regulate the cytoskeleton and planar cell polarity. Feedback regulation and cross‐regulation between different Wnt signal transduction branches is characteristic of Wnt signalling.

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The Wnt's Tale

Cited by 7 publications

References 114 publications

Sequential actions of β-catenin and Bmp pattern the oral nerve net in Nematostella vectensis

Sequential actions of β-catenin and Bmp pattern the oral nerve net in Nematostella vectensis

Evolutionary diversification of the canonical Wnt signaling effector TCF/LEF in chordates

Cell‐to‐Cell Signalling in Development: Wnt Signalling

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