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First published online December 7, 2007

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Segmentation clock: Wnt3a out of time?

According to the `clock and wavefront' model of somitogenesis, a segmentation clock driven by oscillations of Notch, Fgf and Wnt signalling in the presomitic mesoderm (PSM) is translated into a periodic array of somites at the so-called wavefront. Wnt3a/β-catenin signalling is widely believed to be a component of this clock, but on p. 85, Terry Yamaguchi and colleagues surprisingly suggest otherwise. To study Wnt3a's role in somite segmentation, the researchers introduced conditional loss- and gain-of-function β-catenin alleles into mice. Their findings show that although Wnt3a is necessary for the clock gene oscillations that occur during somitogenesis, Wnt3a/β-catenin signalling does not function as an integral component of the segmentation clock because small, irregular and abnormally located somites do develop in the absence of β-catenin and cycling clock gene expression. From their results, the researchers conclude that Wnt3a/β-catenin signalling has a permissive, rather than an instructive, role in the oscillation of clock genes, and that it controls somite boundary formation by regulating the anteroposterior position of segment boundary-determining genes.

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Wnt3a/β-catenin signaling controls posterior body development by coordinating mesoderm formation and segmentation

William C. Dunty, Jr, Kristin K. Biris, Ravindra B. Chalamalasetty, Makoto M. Taketo, Mark Lewandoski, and Terry P. Yamaguchi
Development 2008 135: 85-94. [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?