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Review
. 2009 Mar;6(1):9-14.
doi: 10.1089/zeb.2008.0563.

The emerging role of Wnt/PCP signaling in organ formation

Rodney M Dale  1 , Barbara E Sisson, Jacek Topczewski
Affiliations
Review

The emerging role of Wnt/PCP signaling in organ formation

Rodney M Dale et al. Zebrafish. 2009 Mar.

Abstract

Over the last two decades zebrafish has been an excellent model organism to study vertebrate development. Mutant analysis combined with gene knockdown and other manipulations revealed an essential role of Wnt signaling, independent of beta-catenin, during development. Especially well characterized is the function of Wnt/planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling in the regulation of gastrulation movements and neurulation, described in other reviews within this special issue. Here, we set out to highlight some of the new and exciting research that is being carried out in zebrafish to elucidate the role that Wnt/PCP signaling plays in the formation of specific organs, including the lateral line, craniofacial development, and regeneration. We also summarized the emerging connection of the Wnt/PCP pathway with primary cilia function, an essential organelle in several organ activities.

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Figures

FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.
Schematic of Wnt/PCP signaling and its effects on organogenesis. Diagramed are the genetic and physical interactions of the Wnt/PCP signaling pathway components discussed in this review and shown to be essential for organ formation and proper function of the primary cilia. Based on the role of Wnt/PCP signaling in zebrafish and other animal models, we surmise that the actin cytoskeleton may be a main target of this pathway during organogenesis. Hair cell polarity within the lateral line neuromasts is dependent on the vangl2. However, loss of glypican 4, wnt5b, or wnt11 does not perturb neuromast organization. In contrast, while glypican 4 and wnt5b mutant embryos exhibit irregular chondrocyte stacking, the organization of vangl2 mutant cartilages appears to be normal. Recently, Wnt/PCP signaling has been shown to interact with the components of the primary cilia. Proteins involved in the Wnt/PCP pathway, such as Dishevelled and Vangl2, can co-localize with the cilia and may regulate its localization and function. Primary cilia may be also involved with the down regulation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling, similar to Wnt/PCP. Overexpression of the Wnt/PCP pathway ligands appears to inhibit Wnt/β-catenin signaling in fin regeneration, but the precise mechanisms of this interaction were not explored. The neuromast hair cell schematic was adapted from Lopez-Schier et al.,, and the chondrocyte stacking schematic was adapted from Topczewski et al. Dub, Duboraya; Sea, Seahorse; Pk, Prickle; Vangl2, Van Gogh–like 2; Bbs4, Bardet–Biedl syndrome 4; Ofd1, oral-facial-digital syndrome 1.
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