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Progressive induction of caudal neural character by graded Wnt signaling

Nature Neuroscience volume 5, pages 525–532 (2002)Cite this article

A Corrigendum to this article was published on 01 July 2002

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Abstract

Early in differentiation, all neural cells have a rostral character. Only later do posteriorly positioned neural cells acquire characteristics of caudal forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain cells. Caudalization of neural tissue in the chick embryo apparently involves the convergent actions of (i) fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling and (ii) signaling from the caudal paraxial mesoderm, or 'PMC activity', which has not yet been defined molecularly. Here we report evidence that Wnt signaling underlies PMC activity, and show that Wnt signals act directly and in a graded manner on anterior neural cells to induce their progressive differentiation into caudal forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain cells.

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Figure 1: Wnt11 and Wnt8c expression in the posterior region of the chick embryo at developmental stages when neural cell precursors are exposed to signals that induce caudal neural characters.
Figure 2: Wnt3A and FGF8 in combination induces the expression of Wnt8c in prospective rostral forebrain cells.
Figure 3: The induction of midbrain and hindbrain cells by caudal paraxial mesoderm requires Wnt signaling.
Figure 4: Ongoing Wnt signaling in neural plate cells is required for the acquisition of caudal forebrain but not rostral forebrain character.
Figure 5: Ongoing Wnt signaling in neural plate cells is required for the acquisition of midbrain and rostral hindbrain character.
Figure 6: Wnt signaling imposes rostrocaudal pattern on neural cells in intact chick embryos.
Figure 7: Graded Wnt3A activity, in combination with FGF8, induces caudal regional character in prospective rostral forebrain cells.

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Change history

  • 11 June 2002

    Linked asterisk added to the phrase "rostral-to-caudal shift" -- the footnote reads: The authors wish to correct the phrase "rostral-to-caudal shift," which should read "rostrocaudal shift." An erratum will be published in the July issue.

Notes

  1. NOTE: The authors wish to correct the phrase "rostral-to-caudal shift," which should read "rostrocaudal shift."

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Acknowledgements

We thank Y. Renoncourt for experimental contributions, members of the Edlund lab for discussions and H. Alstermark for technical assistance. We are grateful to R. Nusse for providing Wnt3A-expressing cells, to J. Nathans for the mFrzCRD-IgG plasmid and Xwnt8 cell line and to C. Tabin for Wnt probes. T.E. is supported by the Swedish Medical Research Council and by the Foundation for Strategic Research. T.M.J. is supported by grants from US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NIH-NINDS) and is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå University, Umeå, S-901 87, Sweden

    Ulrika Nordström & Thomas Edlund

  2. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University, New York, 10032, New York, USA

    Thomas M. Jessell

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Correspondence to Thomas Edlund.

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Nordström, U., Jessell, T. & Edlund, T. Progressive induction of caudal neural character by graded Wnt signaling. Nat Neurosci 5, 525–532 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn0602-854

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