A role for Wnt/planar cell polarity signaling during lens fiber cell differentiation?

A mechanism for the synergism of FGF- and Wnt-signaling during lens fiber cell differentiation.

Wnt signaling enhances FGF2-triggered lens fiber cell differentiation.

Wnt signaling is implicated in many developmental processes, including cell fate changes. Several members of the Wnt family, as well as other molecules involved in Wnt signaling, including Frizzled receptors, LDL-related protein co-receptors, members of the Dishevelled and Dickkopf families, are known to be expressed in the lens during embryonic or postembryonic development. However, the functi...

Evaluation of fibroblast growth factor signaling during lens fiber cell differentiation.

PURPOSE Previous studies have implicated members of the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) and insulin-like growth factor (IGF) families as stimulators of lens fiber cell differentiation in rodent and chicken embryo lenses, respectively. In the present study, the role of FGFs in fiber cell differentiation and epithelial cell proliferation in chicken embryos was examined. METHODS Lenses were injec...

Pax6 is essential for lens fiber cell differentiation.

The developing ocular lens provides an excellent model system with which to study the intrinsic and extrinsic cues governing cell differentiation. Although the transcription factors Pax6 and Sox2 have been shown to be essential for lens induction, their later roles during lens fiber differentiation remain largely unknown. Using Cre/loxP mutagenesis, we somatically inactivated Pax6 and Sox2 in t...

Connexin50D47A decreases levels of fiber cell connexins and impairs lens fiber cell differentiation.

PURPOSE Substitutions of aspartate-47 (D47) of Connexin50 (Cx50) have been linked to autosomal dominant congenital cataracts in several human pedigrees. To elucidate the lens abnormalities caused by a substitution at this position, we studied No2 mice, which carry the Cx50D47A mutation and parallel the human pathology. METHODS Lenses from mice of different ages (neonatal to 4 months) were exa...