The DOI matches its Crossref record; 29 of the 29 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
An ancient role for nuclear β-catenin in the evolution of axial polarity and germ layer segregation
Abstract
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.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“The expression domains occur with apparent bilaterial symmetry, i.e., reflecting distinct directed axes both along and perpendicular to the main body axis, and with a left-right plane of symmetry (27)(28)(29).”
From Sea Anemone Genome Reveals Ancestral Eumetazoan Gene Repertoire and Genomic Organization (2007) · cites this paper as [27]
In the citing paper
“While the posterior-anterior gradient of expression of Wnt ligands in larval and adult eumetazoans reflects the conserved role in axial patterning, the earliest function of the canonical Wnt pathway (signalling through b-catenin) is specification of the endomesoderm 19,51,52 .”
From Developmental gene expression provides clues to relationships between sponge and eumetazoan body plans (2014) · cites this paper as [51]
Citations
Cites
Polakis, P. (2000) · Genes & Development · doi:10.1101/gad.14.15.1837 · Cited by 3,183
A molecular mechanism for the effect of lithium on development.
Klein, P. S., & Melton, D. A. (1996) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.93.16.8455 · Cited by 2,334
Yost, C., Torres, M., Miller, J., Huang, E., Kimelman, D., & Moon, R. T. (1996) · Genes & Development · doi:10.1101/gad.10.12.1443 · Cited by 1,167
Early animal evolution: emerging views from comparative biology and geology
Knoll, A. H., & Carroll, S. B. (1999) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.284.5423.2129 · Cited by 821
Heasman, J., Crawford, A., Goldstone, K., Garner-Hamrick, P., Gumbiner, B., McCrea, P., Kintner, C., Noro, C., & Wylie, C. (1994) · Cell · doi:10.1016/0092-8674(94)90069-8 · Cited by 693
Wnt Signaling and an APC-Related Gene Specify Endoderm in Early C. elegans Embryos
Rocheleau, C. E., Downs, W. D., Lin, R., Wittmann, C., Bei, Y., Cha, Y.-H., Ali, M., Priess, J. R., & Mello, C. C. (1997) · Cell · doi:10.1016/s0092-8674(00)80531-0 · Cited by 660
Signal transduction through beta-catenin and specification of cell fate during embryogenesis.
Miller, J. R., & Moon, R. T. (1996) · Genes & Development · doi:10.1101/gad.10.20.2527 · Cited by 656
WNT signalling molecules act in axis formation in the diploblastic metazoan Hydra
Hobmayer, B., Rentzsch, F., Kuhn, K., Happel, C. M., von Laue, C. C., Snyder, P., Rothbächer, U., & Holstein, T. W. (2000) · Nature · doi:10.1038/35025063 · Cited by 599
New aspects of Wnt signaling pathways in higher vertebrates
Huelsken, J., & Birchmeier, W. (2001) · Current Opinion in Genetics & Development · doi:10.1016/s0959-437x(00)00231-8 · Cited by 561
β-catenin translocation into nuclei demarcates the dorsalizing centers in frog and fish embryos
Schneider, S., Steinbeißer, H., Warga, R. M., & Hausen, P. (1996) · Mechanisms of Development · doi:10.1016/0925-4773(96)00546-1 · Cited by 515
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Weitzel, H. E. & Ettensohn, C. A. beta-catenin is differentially degraded along the animal-vegetal axis of early sea urchin embryos in a GSK-3b-dependent manner. Dev. Biol. 247, 479a (2002)
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 301–323 of 323
Characterising the functional venom profiles of sea anemones
Ashwood, L. M. (2022) · Queensland University of Technology · doi:10.5204/thesis.eprints.227457
Erofeeva, T. V., Grigorenko, A. P., Gusev, F. E., Kosevich, I. A., & Rogaev, E. I. (2022) · Biochemistry (Moscow) · doi:10.31857/s0320972522020075
Erofeeva, T. V., Grigorenko, A. P., Gusev, F. E., Kosevich, I. A., & Rogaev, E. I. (2022) · Biochemistry (Moscow) · doi:10.1134/s0006297922030075
Evolution of the Marine Animal Forest: EvoDevo of Corals, Sea Anemones, and Jellyfishes
Rangel‐Huerta, E., Ávila‐Soria, G., & Maldonado, E. (2017) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-21012-4_49
Ein vergleichender Rückblick: Gemeinsames, Trennendes, Aspekte der Evolution
(2006) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/3-540-29472-4_7
(2016) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-802996-1.16001-8
(2006) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-012088563-3.50024-9
In preprints: the ins and outs of Cnidaria germ layers
Leclère, L., & Sinigaglia, C. (2025) · Development · doi:10.1242/dev.204730
Characterization of the Hox patterning genes in acoel flatworms
González, E. M. (2010) · Tesis Doctorals en Xarxa (Consorci de Serveis Universitaris de Catalunya)
Additional file 1 of Epigenomic landscape of enhancer elements during Hydra head organizer formation
Reddy, P. C., Gungi, A., Ubhe, S., & Galande, S. (2020) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.13083258
Lapébie, P. (2010) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/29fb5e58z95e7z4353z8498zaa306e8a2449
Schenkelaars, Q. (2015) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/678ad9b4z0094z499dzb772z9ec414b0d23e
Condamine, T. (2018) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/7bd509e2z4d99z495czafd0z1adf840e0228
Bases cellulaires et moléculaires de la régénération chez la méduse Clytia hemisphaerica
Péron, S. (2019) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/ffef6377z3968z4ab7zb677z254b4877f6a0 · Cited by 1
Comparison of cell types across life cycle stages of the hydrozoan Clytia hemisphaerica
Ferraioli, A. (2022) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/3d74eba7z8f43z44c7zb7bbz37a96dd78d08 · Cited by 1
Ramon-Mateu, J. (2024) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/d797b2bfz57b2z48bdz9d28z5bc9fb931a34
Vetrova, A. A., & Kremnyov, S. V. (2026) · Evolution & Development · doi:10.1111/ede.70046
Hu, M., Ma, H., Wang, R., Yu, Z., Wang, J. Z., Li, L., Wang, D., Yin, H., Yang, M., Qi, F., et al. (2026) · Cell Death and Differentiation · doi:10.1038/s41418-026-01786-7
Reconstructing the evolutionary origin of β-catenin recognition in the Wnt destruction complex
Sun, H., Walters, B. M., Žídek, R., Martindale, M. Q., & Wikramanayake, A. H. (2026) · Molecular Biology and Evolution · doi:10.1093/molbev/msag185 · Cited by 5
Self-citationSaló, E., Adell, T., & González‐Estévez, C. (2025) · De Gruyter eBooks · doi:10.1515/9783111304847-008
Nowotny, J. D., Zattara, E. E., Balarezo, M., Nyberg, K. G., Costello, K. M., & Bely, A. E. (2026) · Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B Molecular and Developmental Evolution · doi:10.1002/jez.b.70049
Evolution of the Transporting Epithelium Phenotype
Cereijido, M., Garcı́a-Villegas, R., Shoshani, L., & Contreras, R. G. (2007) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/0-387-36673-3_1
Metadata
- Authors
- Wikramanayake, A. H., Hong, M., Lee, P. N., Pang, K., Byrum, C. A., Bince, J. M., Xu, R., & Martindale, M. Q.
- Affiliations
- University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (US)
- Corresponding author
- Wikramanayake, Athula H.
- Martindale, Mark Q.
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2003-11
- Volume
- 426
- Issue
- 6965
- Pages
- 446-450
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W2029609524
- Cited by
- 324
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 15
- FWCI
- 5.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Wnt/β-catenin signaling in development and cancer
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Animal Science and Zoology › Marine Invertebrate Physiology and Ecology
- Keywords
- β-catenin, nuclear translocation, Wnt/β-catenin signaling, axial polarity, gastrulation, Nematostella vectensis, oral-aboral axis, cell adhesion, transcriptional regulation
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Cell Nucleus, Cytoskeletal Proteins, Gastrula, Germ Layers, Immunohistochemistry, Trans-Activators, Cell Polarity, Lithium Chloride, Active Transport, Cell Nucleus, Anthozoa, beta Catenin
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
