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Non-Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathways

Non-Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathways

Wnt is a zygotic effect gene that is expressed during very early embryonic development. It regulates various processes in animals starting from early development through the adult stage, such as organogenesis in the embryo and maintenance of neuronal and blood stem cells. Wnt proteins can induce a wide variety of intracellular pathways depending upon the specific abilities of different Wnt ligands to form a complex with shared and cognate receptors in the presence of different co-receptors. The...

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Hedgehog Signaling Pathway

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 27, 2026

The Power of Simplicity: Sea Urchin Embryos as in Vivo Developmental Models for Studying Complex Cell-to-cell Signaling Network Interactions

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A conserved PTEN/FOXO pathway regulates neuronal morphology during C. elegans development.

Ryan Christensen¹, Luis de la Torre-Ubieta, Azad Bonni

¹Program in Cellular Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration and Repair, Department of Cell Biology, Yale University School of Medicine, P.O. Box 9812, New Haven, CT 06536-0812, USA.

Development (Cambridge, England)

|November 10, 2011

Summary

The lipid phosphatase DAF-18/PTEN promotes neurite outgrowth by activating the DAF-16/FOXO pathway during nervous system development. This conserved mechanism highlights a novel role for PI3K signaling in regulating neuron morphology.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Molecular Biology
Developmental Biology

Background:

The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling pathway is crucial for nervous system development.
DAF-18/PTEN acts as a key negative regulator of PI3K signaling.
Understanding PI3K pathway regulation is vital for comprehending neurodevelopmental processes.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the novel role of DAF-18/PTEN in neurodevelopment.
To elucidate the mechanism by which DAF-18/PTEN influences neurite outgrowth.
To determine the involvement of DAF-16/FOXO in DAF-18-mediated neuronal development.

Main Methods:

Utilized Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism.
Investigated the modulation of the PI3K signaling pathway by DAF-18.
Examined the activation of DAF-16/FOXO isoforms and their impact on neurite outgrowth.
Assessed the conservation of DAF-16/FOXO's role in mammalian neurons.

Main Results:

Identified a novel function for DAF-18 in promoting neurite outgrowth during development.
Demonstrated that DAF-18 activates DAF-16/FOXO to facilitate developmental neurite outgrowth.
Found that the DAF-16B isoform, but not other isoforms, mediates this outgrowth-promoting activity.
Confirmed the conserved role of DAF-16/FOXO in regulating neuron morphology in mammalian systems.

Conclusions:

DAF-18/PTEN plays a novel role in promoting neurite outgrowth via PI3K-DAF-16/FOXO signaling.
Isoform-specific activity of DAF-16/FOXO is critical for regulating neuronal morphology.
This conserved pathway offers new insights into the molecular mechanisms of neurodevelopment.