Regulation of Wnt signaling in Xenopus CNC

Regulation of Wnt signaling in Xenopus CNC. Wnt signaling is involved in the induction and specification of the CNC via the canonical pathway mediated by Wnt-11, Fz-7 and Dsh, stabilizing β-catenin to promote Lef/TCF-dependent gene transcription. Alternatively, Dsh stabilizes p120-Cat to promote expression of these same genes, including Wnt-11; thus, providing a positive feedback loop. Cadherin-11 binds to both β-catenin and p120-catenin maintaining a membrane bound pool. In addition, Cadherin-11 binds to the (GEF)-Trio and activates small GTPases of the Rho family to promote cell protrusion. Fz-7 and Dsh can complex with both PTK-7 and Synd-4 to mediate either the activation of RhoA and Rac or the inhibition of Rac, respectively. In the CNC, Pescadillo expression depends on the presence of Wnt-4 and Fz-3. Knockdown of Pescadillo increases apoptosis and decreases cell proliferation and cell migration. Apoptosis and cell proliferation defects can be rescued by knocking down p53.

Publication

Mechanism of Xenopus cranial neural crest cell migration. (2010) Dominique Alfandari, et al. Cell Adh Migr. 2010 Oct-Dec;4(4):553-560. Figure: F2. All organisms Drosophila melanogaster Homo sapiens

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