Direct Transcriptional Repression by Wnt Signaling

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

During animal development and in regenerating tissues, cells communicate with each other by releasing signaling molecules that can be recognized by specific receptors on neighboring cells. This cell-cell signaling is essential to regulate appropriate cell fate and growth. The research carried out in the Cadigan laboratory is concerned with the Wnt family of signaling proteins, which are known to play important roles in development and regeneration throughout the animal kingdom. Wnts are generally thought to act by activating gene expression in cells receiving the signal, however, the Cadigan laboratory has identified several genes that are directly repressed by Wnt signaling. These repressed targets have a different DNA sequence code in their regulatory regions compared with activated targets. The project will define this "repression code" in great detail, which will enable the Cadigan laboratory and other researchers to examine this underappreciated aspect of Wnt signaling in many important biological contexts. This project will provide an excellent training opportunity for several graduate and undergraduate students working in the Cadigan lab, and students from underrepresented groups will be recruited to participate through programs run by the University of Michigan. Aspects of this project will also be incorporated into practical courses that Dr. Cadigan teaches for high school students visiting the University of Michigan campus and physicians entering research laboratories. In addition, a practical guide to characterizing targets that are repressed by Wnt signaling will be posted on an open resource web page for the Wnt community.