Final Activity and Management Report Summary - WDVPT (Role of the Wnt/b-catenin pathway in the dorso-ventral organisation of the telencephalon.)
To obtain the diversity of cells present in the human brain, different signalling molecules are repeatedly used to regionalise the central nervous system (CNS). In this work we used the zebrafish as an organism model to find which signal pathways are involved in the anterior brain formation and when do they act. We restrict our research to the dorsal-ventral (DV) axis (back to front) and to two specific regions; the telencephalon, the most anterior part of the CNS, and the eye. In both cases we found that a specific molecule coordinates different signalling pathways that are responsible for the DV axis.
In the telencephalon FoxG1 is the molecule that regulates the signalling pathways; dorsally the Wnt and ventrally the Hedgehog pathway. Recently FoxG1 was implicated in the Human Rett syndrome, a neurodegenerative disorder; we believe that our study can contribute to a better understanding of this syndrome. The transmission of the visual information from the eye to the brain is dependent of a correct patterning of the eye. Here we discovered that dorsal-ventral patterning of the eye is dependent of dkk1. In this tissue, dkk1 regulates the establishment of Dorsal and ventral by coordinating the activity of several signalling pathways: Wnt, Fgf and BMP. These projects unravelled two different mechanisms used by different tissues to reach the same goal of establish a distinct dorsal and ventral programme.
In the telencephalon FoxG1 is the molecule that regulates the signalling pathways; dorsally the Wnt and ventrally the Hedgehog pathway. Recently FoxG1 was implicated in the Human Rett syndrome, a neurodegenerative disorder; we believe that our study can contribute to a better understanding of this syndrome. The transmission of the visual information from the eye to the brain is dependent of a correct patterning of the eye. Here we discovered that dorsal-ventral patterning of the eye is dependent of dkk1. In this tissue, dkk1 regulates the establishment of Dorsal and ventral by coordinating the activity of several signalling pathways: Wnt, Fgf and BMP. These projects unravelled two different mechanisms used by different tissues to reach the same goal of establish a distinct dorsal and ventral programme.