H. Lickert et al., Wnt/beta-catenin signaling regulates the expression of the homeobox gene Cdx1 in embryonic intestine, DEVELOPMENT, 127(17), 2000, pp. 3805-3813
During mammalian development, the Cdx1 homeobox gene exhibits an early peri
od of expression when the embryonic body axis is established, and a later p
eriod where expression is restricted to the embryonic intestinal endoderm,
Cdx1 expression is maintained throughout adulthood in the proliferative cel
l compartment of the continuously renewed intestinal epithelium, the crypts
, In this study, we provide evidence in vitro and in vivo that Cdx1 is a di
rect transcriptional target of the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway, Upon
Wnt stimulation, expression of Cdx1 can be induced in mouse embryonic stem
(ES) cells as well as in undifferentiated rat embryonic endoderm, Tcf4-def
icient mouse embryos show abrogation of Cdx1 protein in the small intestina
l epithelium, making Tcf4 the likely candidate to transduce Wnt signal in t
his part of gut. The promoter region of the Cdx1 gene contains several Tcf-
binding motifs, and these bind Tcf/Lef1/beta-catenin complexes and mediate
beta-catenin-dependent transactivation, The transcriptional regulation of t
he homeobox gene Cdx1 in the intestinal epithelium by Wnt/beta-catenin sign
aling underlines the importance of this signaling pathway in mammalian endo
derm development.