Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
6965
pubmed:dateCreated
2003-12-3
pubmed:abstractText
The human oncogene beta-catenin is a bifunctional protein with critical roles in both cell adhesion and transcriptional regulation in the Wnt pathway. Wnt/beta-catenin signalling has been implicated in developmental processes as diverse as elaboration of embryonic polarity, formation of germ layers, neural patterning, spindle orientation and gap junction communication, but the ancestral function of beta-catenin remains unclear. In many animal embryos, activation of beta-catenin signalling occurs in blastomeres that mark the site of gastrulation and endomesoderm formation, raising the possibility that asymmetric activation of beta-catenin signalling specified embryonic polarity and segregated germ layers in the common ancestor of bilaterally symmetrical animals. To test whether nuclear translocation of beta-catenin is involved in axial identity and/or germ layer formation in 'pre-bilaterians', we examined the in vivo distribution, stability and function of beta-catenin protein in embryos of the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis (Cnidaria, Anthozoa). Here we show that N. vectensis beta-catenin is differentially stabilized along the oral-aboral axis, translocated into nuclei in cells at the site of gastrulation and used to specify entoderm, indicating an evolutionarily ancient role for this protein in early pattern formation.
pubmed:keyword
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Nov
pubmed:issn
1476-4687
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:day
27
pubmed:volume
426
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
446-50
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2003
pubmed:articleTitle
An ancient role for nuclear beta-catenin in the evolution of axial polarity and germ layer segregation.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Zoology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2538 McCarthy Mall, Honolulu 96822, Hawaii. athula@hawaii.edu
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S., Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't