A Spatiotemporal Requirement for Prickle 1-Mediated PCP Signaling in Eyelid Morphogenesis and Homeostasis

Tissue closure/fusion is a fundamental process during organogenesis, driven in part by the Wnt/planar cell polarity (Wnt/PCP) pathway. This study explored the spatial and temporal aspects of PCP signaling in eyelid development through analysis of mice lacking Prickle 1, a core PCP component, and the Prickle1-dependent signaling networks underlying eyelid development.

Wild type and Prickle 1 compound mutant mice with a hypomorphic and a null allele were bred and used to study eyelid morphogenesis. The time course of embryonic eyelid fusion and postnatal reopening was examined by light microscopy of tissue sections and scanning electron microscopy. Immunohistochemistry was conducted to monitor cell proliferation, death, and molecular identities through pre- and postnatal eyelid development.

Prickle 1 mutant embryos exhibited a profound delay in eyelid closure at embryonic ages, but manifested precocious eyelid reopening postnatally, with ensuing cornea malformation. Mutant embryonic showed downregulation of phosphorylated c-Jun, and upregulation of increased β-catenin in separate cell populations of the eyelid front area. Increased cell death and decreased mesenchymal infiltration was observed in postnatal mutant eyelid prior to eyelid reopening. While broadly expressed in many tissues, Prickle 1 was spatially restricted to the eyelid front at E15.5, a location where c-Jun and β-catenin expression was altered in Prickle 1 mutants.

The study demonstrates a spatiotemporal requirement for Prickle 1-mediated PCP signaling during eyelid morphogenesis and homeostasis. The study links Prickle 1-mediated PCP signaling to existing networks, and provides a useful animal model for studying congenital ocular surface diseases.