Cited by 174Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanismsWnt/β-catenin signaling in development and cancerDevelopmental Biology and Gene Regulation

Endogenous Wnt Signaling Maintains Neural Progenitor Cell Potency

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Wexler, Eric M., Paucer, Andres, Kornblum, Harley I., Palmer, Theodore D., Geschwind, Daniel H.·2009·Stem Cells

Abstract

Wnt signaling regulates neural stem cell (NSC) function and development throughout an individual's lifetime. Intriguingly, adult hippocampal progenitors (AHPs) produce several Wnts, and the intracellular machinery necessary to respond to them, creating the potential for an active autocrine-signaling loop within this stem cell niche. However, the standard luciferase-based Wnt assay failed to detect this signaling loop. This assay is inherently less temporally sensitive to activity among a population of unsynchronized proliferating cells because it relies on the rapidly degrading reporter luciferase. We circumvented this limitation using a promoter assay that employs green fluorescent protein (GFP), as a relatively long-lived reporter of canonical Wnt activity. We found that at baseline, AHPs secreted functional Wnt that self-stimulates low-level canonical Wnt signaling. Elimination baseline Wnt activity, via application of an extracellular Wnt antagonist promoted neurogenesis, based on a combination of unbiased gene expression analysis and cell-fate analysis. A detailed clonal analysis of progenitors transduced with specific intracellular antagonists of canonical signaling, either Axin or truncated cadherin (β-catenin sequestering), revealed that loss of baseline signaling depletes the population of multipotent precursors, thereby driving an increasing fraction to assume a committed cell fate (i.e., unipotent progenitors). Similarly, baseline Wnt signaling repressed differentiation of human NSCs. Although the specific Wnts produced by neural precursors vary with age and between species, their effects remain remarkably consistent. In sum, this study establishes that autonomous Wnt signaling is a conserved feature of the neurogenic niche that preserves the delicate balance between NSC maintenance and differentiation. Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.

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  • In FTD, two studies re-analysed published transcriptome data and discovered a role for WNT signalling in GRN-mediated FTD.

    “In FTD, two studies re-analysed published transcriptome data139 to discover a role for WNT signalling in GRN-mediated FTD153,154.”
  • Those studies identified transcriptomic changes shared across post-mortem human brain, human neural cell lines, and mouse brain.

    “Both involved extensive bioinformatic analyses of expression data from in vitro neural progenitor models and identified transcriptomic changes shared across the post-mortem human brain, human neural cell lines and the mouse brain.”

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Authors
Wexler, E. M., Paucer, A., Kornblum, H. I., Palmer, T. D., & Geschwind, D. H.
Affiliations
  • University of California, Los Angeles (US)
  • Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University Hospital and Clinics, Stanford, California
Corresponding author
Wexler, Eric M.
Venue
Stem Cells
Published
2009-02-12
Volume
27
Issue
5
Pages
1130-1141
ISSN
  • 1066-5099 (ISSN-L)
  • 1549-4918
OpenAlex
W2103279053
Cited by
174
References
74
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 18 · 2012: 16
FWCI
4.91
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Stem Cells (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression
  • National Institutes of Health (1r21ns045015-01)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (K08 MH74362, R01MH065756, T32MH1993808, R01MH060233, K08MH074362, R37MH060233)
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R21 NS045015)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Wnt/β-catenin signaling in development and cancer
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation
Keywords
Wnt signaling, neural stem cells, autocrine signaling, neurogenesis, stem cell differentiation, Axin, β-catenin, neurogenic niche, cell fate specification, multipotent progenitors
MeSH terms
Animals, Cell Differentiation, Cell Line, Hippocampus, Humans, Neurons, Species Specificity, Stem Cells, Signal Transduction, Autocrine Communication, Multipotent Stem Cells, Wnt Proteins, beta Catenin, Rats, Embryonic Stem Cells

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