WNT signalling molecules act in axis formation in the diploblastic metazoan Hydra

Bert Hobmayer (), Fabian Rentzsch, Kerstin Kuhn, Christoph M. Happel, Christoph Cramer von Laue, Petra Snyder, Ute Rothbächer and Thomas W. Holstein ()
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Bert Hobmayer: Darmstadt University of Technology
Fabian Rentzsch: Darmstadt University of Technology
Kerstin Kuhn: Darmstadt University of Technology
Christoph M. Happel: Darmstadt University of Technology
Christoph Cramer von Laue: Darmstadt University of Technology
Petra Snyder: Darmstadt University of Technology
Ute Rothbächer: Laboratoire de Genetique et Physiologie du Developpement, IBDM, Campus de Luminy
Thomas W. Holstein: Darmstadt University of Technology

Nature, 2000, vol. 407, issue 6801, 186-189

Abstract: Abstract Members of the Wnt/wingless family of secreted proteins act as short-range inducers and long-range organizers during axis formation, organogenesis and tumorigenesis in many developing tissues1. Wnt signalling pathways are conserved in nematodes, insects and vertebrates2. Despite its developmental significance, the evolutionary origin of Wnt signalling is unclear. Here we describe the molecular characterization of members of the Wnt signalling pathway—Wnt, Dishevelled, GSK3, β-Catenin and Tcf/Lef—in Hydra, a member of the evolutionarily old metazoan phylum Cnidaria. Wnt and Tcf are expressed in the putative Hydra head organizer, the upper part of the hypostome. Wnt, β-Catenin and Tcf are transcriptionally upregulated when head organizers are established early in bud formation and head regeneration. Wnt and Tcf expression domains also define head organizers created by de novo pattern formation in aggregates. Our results indicate that Wnt signalling may be involved in axis formation in Hydra and support the idea that it was central in the evolution of axial differentiation in early multicellular animals.

Date: 2000
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DOI: 10.1038/35025063

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