The Canonical Wnt Pathway Regulates Retinal Stem Cells/Progenitors in Concert with Notch Signaling

Autor: Iqbal Ahmad, Kavita Mallya, Ani V. Das, James D. Eudy, Xing Zhao, Ganapati V. Hegde, Sumitra Bhattacharya
Rok vydání: 2008
Předmět:
Zdroj: Developmental Neuroscience. 30:389-409
ISSN: 1421-9859
0378-5866
DOI: 10.1159/000178017
Popis: The canonical Wnt pathway is known to influence multiple developmental events such as patterning, cell proliferation and cell specification. Recent studies have provided evidence of the involvement of the canonical Wnt pathway in the emergence and development of the optic neuroepithelium and its derivatives, particularly the retina. However, the mechanism of its action during retinal development remains rather obscure. Here, we demonstrate that (in agreement with observations in the blood, intestine, and skin) the canonical Wnt pathway influences retinal development by maintaining stem cells/progenitors. For example, the activation of this pathway keeps the early retinal stem cells/progenitors proliferating and uncommitted, while its attenuation facilitates their differentiation into retinal ganglion cells in vitro and in vivo. In addition, we demonstrate that Wnt signaling acts in concert with Notch signaling during retinal histogenesis, where the latter calibrates the influence of the former on the differentiation status of retinal stem cells/progenitors by regulating Lef1 and sFRP2.
Databáze: OpenAIRE