A zinc finger-dependent, PRDM13-driven mechanism regulates retinal progenitor cell fate from mouse embryonic stem cells via WNT signaling.

ABSTRACT: The transcriptional regulation underlying eye field (retinal primordium) development requires precise control, yet the mechanisms guiding lineage-specific differentiation within the central nervous system (CNS) remain incompletely understood. Using neuroectoderm (NE) organoids derived from mouse embryonic stem cells, we investigate the role of PRDM13 in eye field specification. We demonstrate that Prdm13 expression inhibits RX⁺ eye field fate but permits non-eye field NE differentiation, an effect that depends on its first and second zinc-finger domains. Prdm13 activates the WNT/β-catenin signaling pathway during differentiation, leading to downregulation of key transcription factors crucial for establishing the eye field. Pharmacological inhibition of WNT signaling abolishes PR

SUBMITTER: Basinski BW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12181962 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature