JOURNAL ARTICLE
RESEARCH SUPPORT, N.I.H., EXTRAMURAL
RESEARCH SUPPORT, NON-U.S. GOV'T
Deletion of mouse Porcn blocks Wnt ligand secretion and reveals an ectodermal etiology of human focal dermal hypoplasia/Goltz syndrome.
The Drosophila porcupine gene is required for secretion of wingless and other Wnt proteins, and sporadic mutations in its unique human ortholog, PORCN, cause a pleiotropic X-linked dominant disorder, focal dermal hypoplasia (FDH, also known as Goltz syndrome). We generated a conditional allele of the X-linked mouse Porcn gene and analyzed its requirement in Wnt signaling and embryonic development. We find that Porcn-deficient cells exhibit a cell-autonomous defect in Wnt ligand secretion but remain responsive to exogenous Wnts. Consistent with the female-specific inheritance pattern of FDH, Porcn hemizygous male embryos arrest during early embryogenesis and fail to generate mesoderm, a phenotype previously associated with loss of Wnt activity. Heterozygous Porcn mutant females exhibit a spectrum of limb, skin, and body patterning abnormalities resembling those observed in human patients with FDH. Many of these defects are recapitulated by ectoderm-specific deletion of Porcn, substantiating a long-standing hypothesis regarding the etiology of human FDH and extending previous studies that have focused on downstream elements of Wnt signaling, such as β-catenin. Conditional deletion of Porcn thus provides an experimental model of FDH, as well as a valuable tool to probe Wnt ligand function in vivo.
Full text links
Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university
For the best experience, use the Read mobile app
Read by QxMD is copyright © 2021 QxMD Software Inc. All rights reserved. By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.
You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now
Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university
For the best experience, use the Read mobile app