Open AccessA β-Catenin-Dependent Wnt Pathway Mediates Anteroposterior Axon Guidance in C. elegans Motor Neurons
Author(s) -
Géraldine S. Maro,
Matthew P. Klassen,
Kang Shen
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0004690
Subject(s) - wnt signaling pathway , frizzled , biology , axon guidance , microbiology and biotechnology , beta catenin , axon , neuroscience , signal transduction
Background Wnts are secreted glycoproteins that regulate diverse aspects of development, including cell proliferation, cell fate specification and differentiation. More recently, Wnts have been shown to direct axon guidance in vertebrates, flies and worms. However, little is known about the intracellular signaling pathways downstream of Wnts in axon guidance. Methodology/Principal Findings Here we show that the posterior C. elegans Wnt protein LIN-44 repels the axons of the adjacent D-type motor neurons by activating its receptor LIN-17/Frizzled on the neurons. Moreover, mutations in mig-5 /Disheveled, gsk-3 , pry-1 /Axin, bar-1 /β-catenin and pop-1 /TCF, also cause disrupted D-type axon pathfinding. Reduced BAR-1/β-catenin activity in D-type axons leads to undergrowth of axons, while stabilization of BAR-1/β-catenin in a lin-23 /SCF β-TrCP mutant results in an overextension phenotype. Conclusions/Significance Together, our data provide evidence that Wnt-mediated axon guidance can be transduced through a β-catenin-dependent pathway.