Wnt/Frizzled signaling controls C. elegans gastrulation by activating actomyosin contractility.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Embryonic patterning mechanisms regulate the cytoskeletal machinery that drives morphogenesis, but there are few cases where links between patterning mechanisms and morphogenesis are well understood. We have used a combination of genetics, in vivo imaging, and cell manipulations to identify such links in C. elegans gastrulation. Gastrulation in C. elegans begins with the internalization of endodermal precursor cells in a process that depends on apical constriction of ingressing cells.

Results

We show that ingression of the endodermal precursor cells is regulated by pathways, including a Wnt-Frizzled signaling pathway, that specify endodermal cell fate. We find that Wnt signaling has a role in gastrulation in addition to its earlier roles in regulating endodermal c

SUBMITTER: Lee JY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2989422 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature