Distinct requirements for cranial ectoderm and mesenchyme-derived wnts in specification and differentiation of osteoblast and dermal progenitors.

ABSTRACT: The cranial bones and dermis differentiate from mesenchyme beneath the surface ectoderm. Fate selection in cranial mesenchyme requires the canonical Wnt effector molecule β-catenin, but the relative contribution of Wnt ligand sources in this process remains unknown. Here we show Wnt ligands are expressed in cranial surface ectoderm and underlying supraorbital mesenchyme during dermal and osteoblast fate selection. Using conditional genetics, we eliminate secretion of all Wnt ligands from cranial surface ectoderm or undifferentiated mesenchyme, to uncover distinct roles for ectoderm- and mesenchyme-derived Wnts. Ectoderm Wnt ligands induce osteoblast and dermal fibroblast progenitor specification while initiating expression of a subset of mesenchymal Wnts. Mesenchyme Wnt ligands are subsequ

SUBMITTER: Goodnough LH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3930509 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature