Ovo1 links Wnt signaling with N-cadherin localization during neural crest migration

A fundamental issue in cell biology is how migratory cell behaviors are controlled by dynamically regulated cell adhesion. Vertebrate neural crest (NC) cells rapidly alter cadherin expression and localization at the cell surface during migration. Secreted Wnts induce some of these changes in NC adhesion and also promote specification of NC-derived pigment cells. Here, we show that the zebrafish transcription factor Ovo1 is a Wnt target gene that controls migration of pigment precursors by regulating the intracellular movements of N-cadherin (Ncad). Ovo1 genetically interacts with Ncad and its depletion causes Ncad to accumulate inside cells. Ovo1-deficient embryos strongly upregulate factors involved in intracellular trafficking, including several rab GTPases, known to modulate cellular localization of cadherins. Surprisingly, NC cells express high levels of many of these rab genes in the early embryo, chemical inhibitors of Rab functions rescue NC development in Ovo1-deficient embryos and overexpression of a Rab-interacting protein leads to similar defects in NC migration. These results suggest that Ovo proteins link Wnt signaling to intracellular trafficking pathways that localize Ncad in NC cells and allow them to migrate. Similar processes probably occur in other cell types in which Wnt signaling promotes migration.