Wnt‐signaling and planar cell polarity genes regulate axon guidance along the anteroposterior axis in C. elegans

ABSTRACT During the development of the nervous system, neurons encounter signals that inform their outgrowth and polarization. Understanding how these signals combinatorially function to pattern the nervous system is of considerable interest to developmental neurobiologists. The Wnt ligands and thei...

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Published inDevelopmental neurobiology (Hoboken, N.J.) Vol. 74; no. 8; pp. 781 - 796
Main Author Ackley, Brian D.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.08.2014
Subjects
Animals
Axons - metabolism
Caenorhabditis elegans - cytology
Caenorhabditis elegans - metabolism
Cell Polarity - physiology
Disheveled
Drosophila
Flamingo
Frizzled
Humans
Neurogenesis - physiology
Neurons - physiology
planar cell polarity
Wnt
Wnt Signaling Pathway
Disheveled
Frizzled
planar cell polarity
Wnt
Flamingo
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Summary:ABSTRACT During the development of the nervous system, neurons encounter signals that inform their outgrowth and polarization. Understanding how these signals combinatorially function to pattern the nervous system is of considerable interest to developmental neurobiologists. The Wnt ligands and their receptors have been well characterized in polarizing cells during asymmetric cell division. The planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway is also critical for cell polarization in the plane of an epithelium. The core set of PCP genes include members of the conserved Wnt‐signaling pathway, such as Frizzled and Disheveled, but also the cadherin‐domain protein Flamingo. In Drosophila, the Fat and Dachsous cadherins also function in PCP, but in parallel to the core PCP components. C. elegans also have two Fat‐like and one Dachsous‐like cadherins, at least one of which, cdh‐4, contributes to neural development. In C. elegans Wnt ligands and the conserved PCP genes have been shown to regulate a number of different events, including embryonic cell polarity, vulval morphogenesis, and cell migration. As is also observed in vertebrates, the Wnt and PCP genes appear to function to primarily provide information about the anterior to posterior axis of development. Here, we review the recent work describing how mutations in the Wnt and core PCP genes affect axon guidance and synaptogenesis in C. elegans. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 74: 781–796, 2014
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ISSN:1932-8451
1932-846X
DOI:10.1002/dneu.22146