STRUCTURE AND EXPRESSION OF WNT13, A NOVEL MOUSE WNT2 RELATED GENE

We have identified a novel mouse member of the Wnt family, Wnt13. Amon g mouse Wnt genes, Wnt13 is most closely related to Wnt2. Sequence com parisons and chromosomal localization strongly suggest that Wnt13, rat her than Wnt2, is the mouse orthologue of both the human WNT13 and Xen opus XWnt2 genes. Wnt13 is expressed in the embryonic mesoderm during gastrulation. At later stages, transcripts are detected in the dorsal midline of the diencephalon and mesencephalon, the heart primordia, th e periphery of the lung bud and the otic and optic vesicles. These dat a suggest that Wnt13 function might partially overlap with those of ot her Wnt genes in the cell signaling mechanisms controlling mesoderm sp ecification during gastrulation and some aspects of brain, heart and l ung formation. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.