Wnt ligand/Frizzled 2 receptor signaling regulates tube shape and branch-point formation in the lung through control of epithelial cell shape.

ABSTRACT: Changing the morphology of a simple epithelial tube to form a highly ramified branching network requires changes in cell behavior that lead to tissue-wide changes in organ shape. How epithelial cells in branched organs modulate their shape and behavior to promote bending and sculpting of the epithelial sheet is not well understood, and the mechanisms underlying this process remain obscure. We show that the Wnt receptor Frizzled 2 (Fzd2) is required for domain branch formation during the initial establishment of the respiratory tree. Live imaging and transcriptome analysis of lung-branching morphogenesis demonstrate that Fzd2 promotes changes in epithelial cell length and shape. These changes in cell morphology deform the developing epithelial tube to generate and maintain new domain branch

SUBMITTER: Kadzik RS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4151720 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature