Abstract
During development, cells monitor and adjust their rates of accumulation to produce organs of predetermined size. We show here that central nervous system-specific deletion of the essential adherens junction gene, alphaE-catenin, causes abnormal activation of the hedgehog pathway, resulting in shortening of the cell cycle, decreased apoptosis, and cortical hyperplasia. We propose that alphaE-catenin connects cell-density-dependent adherens junctions with the developmental hedgehog pathway and that this connection may provide a negative feedback loop controlling the size of developing cerebral cortex.
Publication types
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Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
MeSH terms
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Adherens Junctions / physiology*
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Adherens Junctions / ultrastructure
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Animals
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Apoptosis
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Cell Adhesion
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Cell Count
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Cell Cycle
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Cell Differentiation
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Cell Polarity
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Central Nervous System / embryology
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Cerebral Cortex / cytology
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Cerebral Cortex / embryology*
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Cerebral Cortex / pathology
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Cerebral Cortex / physiology
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Hedgehog Proteins
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Hyperplasia
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Mice
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Mitosis
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Models, Biological
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Mutation
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Neurons / cytology
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Neurons / physiology*
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Neurons / ultrastructure
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Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis
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Signal Transduction*
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Stem Cells / cytology
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Stem Cells / ultrastructure
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Trans-Activators / metabolism*
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Up-Regulation
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alpha Catenin / genetics
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alpha Catenin / physiology*
Substances
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Hedgehog Proteins
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Trans-Activators
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alpha Catenin