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First published online May 28, 2004

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Stability matters

ß-Catenin has a highly conserved function in axial patterning in metazoan embryos. In species as diverse as frogs and sea urchins, ß-catenin localises to nuclei at one pole of cleavage-stage embryos, where it activates the transcription factors required for axis specification. On p. 2947, Weitzel and colleagues investigate how, in sea urchins, ß-catenin localisation at the vegetal pole is achieved. In vivo measurements of the half-life of GFP-tagged ß-catenin reveal a marked gradient of ß-catenin stability along the animal-vegetal axis during early cleavage. This gradient depends on glycogen synthase kinase-3-ß (GSK3ß), which by phosphorylating ß-catenin marks it for degradation. GSK3ß activity, in turn, is inhibited by dishevelled (Dsh), which is activated in vegetal cells. The researchers also identify regions of Dsh that are required for its vegetal targeting, thus shedding light on the molecular mechanisms of early axial patterning in the sea urchin and potentially elsewhere.

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Differential stability of ß-catenin along the animal-vegetal axis of the sea urchin embryo mediated by dishevelled

Heather E. Weitzel, Michele R. Illies, Christine A. Byrum, Ronghui Xu, Athula H. Wikramanayake, and Charles A. Ettensohn
Development 2004 131: 2947-2956. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in Development Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?