Neural crest cells organize the eye via TGF-β and canonical Wnt signalling

Timothy Grocott, Samuel Johnson, Andrew P. Bailey and Andrea Streit ()
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Timothy Grocott: King's College London, Guy's Campus
Samuel Johnson: King's College London, Guy's Campus
Andrew P. Bailey: King's College London, Guy's Campus
Andrea Streit: King's College London, Guy's Campus

Nature Communications, 2011, vol. 2, issue 1, 1-6

Abstract: Abstract In vertebrates, the lens and retina arise from different embryonic tissues raising the question of how they are aligned to form a functional eye. Neural crest cells are crucial for this process: in their absence, ectopic lenses develop far from the retina. Here we show, using the chick as a model system, that neural crest-derived transforming growth factor-βs activate both Smad3 and canonical Wnt signalling in the adjacent ectoderm to position the lens next to the retina. They do so by controlling Pax6 activity: although Smad3 may inhibit Pax6 protein function, its sustained downregulation requires transcriptional repression by Wnt-initiated β-catenin. We propose that the same neural crest-dependent signalling mechanism is used repeatedly to integrate different components of the eye and suggest a general role for the neural crest in coordinating central and peripheral parts of the sensory nervous system.

Date: 2011
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:2:y:2011:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms1269

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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1269

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