Heterogeneity in readouts of canonical wnt pathway activity within intestinal crypts.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Canonical Wnt pathway signaling is necessary for maintaining the proliferative capacity of mammalian intestinal crypt base columnar stem cells (CBCs). Furthermore, dysregulation of the Wnt pathway is a major contributor to disease, including oncogenic transformation of the intestinal epithelium. Given the critical importance of this pathway, numerous tools have been used as proxy measures for Wnt pathway activity, yet the relationship between Wnt target gene expression and reporter allele activity within individual cells at the crypt base remains unclear.

Results

Here, we describe a novel Axin2-CreERT2-tdTomato allele that efficiently marks both Wnt(High) CBCs and radioresistant reserve intestinal stem cells. We analyze the molecular and functional identity of Axi

SUBMITTER: Li N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4946997 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature