| First Author | Kim HJ | Year | 2005 |
| Journal | BMC Biol | Volume | 3 |
| Pages | 23 | PubMed ID | 16246260 |
| Mgi Jnum | J:112755 | Mgi Id | MGI:3663526 |
| Doi | 10.1186/1741-7007-3-23 | Citation | Kim HJ, et al. (2005) Wnt5 signaling in vertebrate pancreas development. BMC Biol 3:23 |
| abstractText | BACKGROUND: Signaling by the Wnt family of secreted glycoproteins through their receptors, the frizzled (Fz) family of seven-pass transmembrane proteins, is critical for numerous cell fate and tissue polarity decisions during development. RESULTS: We report a novel role of Wnt signaling in organogenesis using the formation of the islet during pancreatic development as a model tissue. We used the advantages of the zebrafish to visualize and document this process in living embryos and demonstrated that insulin-positive cells actively migrate to form an islet. We used morpholinos (MOs), sequence-specific translational inhibitors, and time-lapse imaging analysis to show that the Wnt-5 ligand and the Fz-2 receptor are required for proper insulin-cell migration in zebrafish. Histological analyses of islets in Wnt5a(-/-) mouse embryos showed that Wnt5a signaling is also critical for murine pancreatic insulin-cell migration. CONCLUSION: Our results implicate a conserved role of a Wnt5/Fz2 signaling pathway in islet formation during pancreatic development. This study opens the door for further investigation into a role of Wnt signaling in vertebrate organ development and disease. |
