Skip Navigation



Mol. Hum. Reprod. Advance Access published online on November 26, 2008
Molecular Human Reproduction, doi:10.1093/molehr/gan070
This Article
Right arrow Advance Access manuscript (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
15/1/11    most recent
gan070v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Wang, H.-X.
Right arrow Articles by Kidder, G. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Wang, H.-X.
Right arrow Articles by Kidder, G. M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Identification of WNT/β-CATENIN signaling pathway components in human cumulus cells

Hong-Xing Wang1, Francis R. Tekpetey2,4 and Gerald M. Kidder1,2,3,5,6

1Departments of Physiology and Pharmacology, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5C1; Canada 2Departments of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5C1; Canada 3Departments of Paediatrics, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5C1; Canada 4Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Program, London Health Sciences Centre, 339 Windermere Road, London, Ontario, N6A 5A5, Canada 5 Children's Health Research Institute, 800 Commissioners Road East, London, Ontario N6C 2V5, Canada

6 Address for correspondence: Dr. Gerald M. Kidder, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Dental Sciences Building, dock 15, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5C1, Canada, Phone: 1-519-661-3132, Fax: 1-519-850-2562, Email: gerald.kidder{at}schulich.uwo.ca

Signaling via the conserved WNT/β-CATENIN pathway controls diverse developmental processes. To explore its potential role in the ovary, we investigated the expression of WNTs, frizzled (FZD) receptors, and other pathway components in human cumulus cells obtained from oocytes collected for in vitro fertilization. Proteins were detected in cultured cells using immunofluorescence microscopy. Protein-protein interactions were analyzed by means of immunoprecipitation. WNT2, FZD2, FZD3, and FZD9 were identified but WNT1, WNT4 and FZD4 were not detected. WNT2 is co-expressed with FZD2, FZD3, and FZD9. Co-immunoprecipitation using WNT2 antibody demonstrated that WNT2 interacts with both FZD3 and FZD9, but only FZD9 antibody precipitated WNT2. We also identified DVL (disheveled), AXIN, GSK-3β (glycogen synthase kinase-3β), and β-CATENIN. β-CATENIN is concentrated in the plasma membranes. DVL co-localizes with FZD9 and AXIN in the membranes, but GSK-3β has little colocalization with AXIN and β-CATENIN. Interestingly, β-CATENIN is highly co-localized with FZD9 and AXIN. CDH1 (E-cadherin) was also detected in the plasma membranes and cytoplasm, co-localized with β-CATENIN, and CDH1 antibody precipitated β-CATENIN. The results suggest that WNT2 could act through its receptor FZD9 to regulate the β-CATENIN pathway in cumulus cells, recruiting β-CATENIN into plasma membranes and promoting the formation of adherens junctions involving CDH1.

Key Words: ovarian follicle/paracrine signaling/folliculogenesis/gene expression/signal transduction

Submitted on September 16, 2008; resubmitted on November 11, 2008; accepted on November 17, 2008.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.