Centre for Integrative Physiology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2011;6(8):e23012. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0023012. Epub 2011 Aug 8.
The adult cerebellum is composed of several distinct cell types with well defined developmental origins. However, the molecular mechanisms that govern the generation of these cell types are only partially resolved. Wnt/β-catenin signalling has a wide variety of roles in generation of the central nervous system, though the specific activity of this pathway during cerebellum development is not well understood. Here, we present data that delineate the spatio-temporal specific pattern of Wnt/β-catenin signaling during mouse cerebellum development between E12.5 and P21. Using the BAT-gal Wnt/β-catenin reporter mouse, we found that Wnt/β-catenin activity is present transiently at the embryonic rhombic lip but not at later stages during the expansion of cell populations that arise from there. At late embryonic and early postnatal stages, Wnt/β-catenin activity shifts to the cerebellar ventricular zone and to cells arising from this germinal centre. Subsequently, the expression pattern becomes progressively restricted to Bergmann glial cells, which show expression of the reporter at P21. These results indicate a variety of potential functions for Wnt/β-catenin activity during cerebellum development.
成人小脑由几种具有明确发育起源的不同细胞类型组成。然而，支配这些细胞类型生成的分子机制尚未完全阐明。Wnt/β-连环蛋白信号在中枢神经系统的生成中具有广泛的作用，尽管该途径在小脑发育过程中的具体活性还不是很清楚。在这里，我们提供的数据描述了 Wnt/β-连环蛋白信号在 E12.5 和 P21 之间的小鼠小脑发育过程中的时空特异性模式。使用 BAT-gal Wnt/β-连环蛋白报告小鼠，我们发现 Wnt/β-连环蛋白活性在胚胎菱形唇短暂存在，但在源自该处的细胞群体扩张的后期阶段不存在。在胚胎晚期和出生后早期，Wnt/β-连环蛋白活性转移到小脑室区和从中产生的细胞。随后，表达模式逐渐局限于 Bergmann 神经胶质细胞，该细胞在 P21 时表达报告基因。这些结果表明 Wnt/β-连环蛋白活性在小脑发育过程中具有多种潜在功能。
