Where is beta-catenin found in an embryo?

cell membrane
Our results showed that β-catenin is mainly distributed in the cell membrane of early embryos from zygotes to morulae. With progression of blastomere division, β-catenin is predominately expressed in the morula. However, β-catenin was not detected in the cell membrane of MII oocytes (Figure 1).

What is the role of β-catenin in early endoderm formation?

Functional assays indicate that β-catenin plays a key role in the development of the endoderm. Similarly, over-expression of the cytoplasmic domain of cadherin or a β-catenin-engrailed repressor fusion construct prevented endoderm formation and generated the same animalized phenotype.

What is the role of DSH in dorsal specification?

Overexpression of Dsh Stabilizes β-catenin 1994), suggest that the dorsal accumulation of Dsh plays a role in promoting the stabilization of β-catenin in dorsal cells.

How is B catenin regulated?

β-Catenin is a pivotal component of the Wnt signaling pathway and it is tightly regulated at three hierarchical levels: protein stability, subcellular localization and transcriptional activity.

How is beta catenin activated?

The Wnt system is 1 of the well-known potent pathways, which activates nuclear β-catenin. In the absence of Wnt signal, free cytoplasmic β-catenin is phosphorylated by serine/threonine kinases, casein Kinase Iα (CKIα) and GSK3β in a large APC/axin scaffolding complex that targets β-catenin for degradation.

Is beta catenin a receptor?

In Drosophila, the homologous protein is called armadillo. β-catenin is a subunit of the cadherin protein complex and acts as an intracellular signal transducer in the Wnt signaling pathway….Catenin beta-1.

Is beta catenin a maternal?

Nuclear β-catenin in the marginal zone is maternal and independent of Wnt ligands. (A and B) Double staining for β-catenin (A and B) and P-MAPK (A′ and B′) of cryosections from (A) control embryos or (B) embryos injected with α-amanitin (stage 9, 4 × 50 pg).

What do you think the role is for at the vegetal pole of the blastula?

The vegetal pole contains large yolky cells that divide very slowly, in contrast with the animal pole above it. In some cases, the vegetal pole is thought to differentiate into the extraembryonic membranes that protect and nourish the developing embryo, such as the placenta in mammals and the chorion in birds.

How is beta-catenin activated?

What genes does beta-catenin regulate?

β-catenin target genes have been implicated in regulating different cellular processes including proliferation (e.g., MYC, CCND1, PPARD), stem cell fate (ASCL2), survival (ABCB1, BIRC5), differentiation (ID2, ITF2, ENC1), migration (MMP7, MMP14), and angiogenesis (VEGF) [4–18].

How does beta-catenin enter the nucleus?

When injected into the cell cytoplasm, β-catenin rapidly migrated into the nucleus in a temperature-dependent and wheat germ agglutinin–sensitive manner. In the cell-free import assay, β-catenin rapidly migrates into the nucleus without the exogenous addition of cytosol, Ran, or ATP/GTP.

What dual roles does β-catenin play in epithelial cells?

Beta-catenin is a dual function protein, involved in regulation and coordination of cell–cell adhesion and gene transcription. In humans, the CTNNB1 protein is encoded by the CTNNB1 gene.