HESX1- and TCF3-mediated repression of Wnt/β-catenin targets is required for normal development of the anterior forebrain.

ABSTRACT: The Wnt/β-catenin pathway plays an essential role during regionalisation of the vertebrate neural plate and its inhibition in the most anterior neural ectoderm is required for normal forebrain development. Hesx1 is a conserved vertebrate-specific transcription factor that is required for forebrain development in Xenopus, mice and humans. Mouse embryos deficient for Hesx1 exhibit a variable degree of forebrain defects, but the molecular mechanisms underlying these defects are not fully understood. Here, we show that injection of a hesx1 morpholino into a 'sensitised' zygotic headless (tcf3) mutant background leads to severe forebrain and eye defects, suggesting an interaction between Hesx1 and the Wnt pathway during zebrafish forebrain development. Consistent with a requirement for Wnt sign

SUBMITTER: Andoniadou CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3201662 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature