Wnt/β-catenin signaling in cerebral cortical development

Figures & data

Figure 1 Expression of Wnts, Frizzled and Wnt activity in the developing cerebral cortex. Neural precursor cells reside in the ventricular zone (VZ). Ventricular cells are polarized neuroepithelial cells oriented with their apical surfaces towards the ventricular lumen; the endfeet of ventricular zone neural precursors are joined by β-catenin-rich adherens junctions (red). Wnt7a, Fz-5 and Fz-8 are expressed in the cortical ventricular zone, while Wnt7b is expressed in the developing cortical plate. Active Wnt/β-catenin signaling is present in the ventricular zone and cortical plate (blue). Increasing evidence points to important Wnt function in proliferation of precursors, laminar fate determination of cortical neurons, axonal/dendritic remodeling, as well as synapse formation.

Table 1 CNS phenotype of Wnt knockouts

Gene	CNS phenotype
Wnt1	Loss of midbrain, cerebellum,42,54 neural crest and dorsolateral neural precursors55
Wnt3	Regulation of hippocampal neurogenesis56
Wnt3a	Loss of hippocampus13
Wnt7a	Delayed synaptogenesis in cerebellum36
Lrp6	Reduction in neocortex during development30

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