Wnt/β-catenin signaling affects two modes of neurogenesis in the zebrafish olfactory epithelium

Abstract

Olfactory sensory neurons undergo continuous turnover and the olfactory epithelium (OE) iscapable of efficient regeneration following traumatic injury. We have identified distinct progenitorcell populations in the zebrafish OE that selectively contribute to maintenance and repairneurogenesis. Gene expression analysis during OE regeneration suggests that canonicalWnt/β-catenin signaling contributes to the regulation of OE neurogenesis. To test thecontribution of Wnt signaling functionally, we pharmacologically manipulated the pathway in theintact OE and an experimental model of OE regeneration. Stimulation of the pathway resulted inan enhanced cell proliferation response that shares similarity with the pattern of neurogenesisthat can be observed in the damaged OE. Inhibitors of Wnt signaling suppressed both, the baserate of maintenance neurogenesis and damage-induced proliferation. Our results suggest thatWnt/β-catenin signaling is both necessary and sufficient to induce repair and maintenanceneurogenesis.Abstract selected by the committee for an oral presentationinfo:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublishe