Impact of WNT signaling on tissue lineage differentiation in the early mouse embryo

WNT signaling activity is involved in the regulation of many cellular functions, including proliferation, migration, cell fate specification, maintenance of pluripotency and induction of tumorigenicity. Here we summarize recent progress towards understanding the regulation of canonical WNT/β-catenin signaling activity through feedback regulatory loops involving the ligands, agonists and antagonists, the availability of intracellular pools of active β-catenin and the cross-regulation of the WNT activity by β-catenin independent pathway. We also review recent findings on the role of WNT/β-catenin signaling in tissue lineage differentiation during embryogenesis and the maintenance and self renewal of embryo-derived stem cells in vitro.     

Using cell fate attractors to uncover transcriptional regulation of HL60 neutrophil differentiation

Background  

The process of cellular differentiation is governed by complex dynamical biomolecular networks consisting of a multitude of genes and their products acting in concert to determine a particular cell fate. Thus, a systems level view is necessary for understanding how a cell coordinates this process and for developing effective therapeutic strategies to treat diseases, such as cancer, in which differentiation plays a significant role. Theoretical considerations and recent experimental evidence support the view that cell fates are high dimensional attractor states of the underlying molecular networks. The temporal behavior of the network states progressing toward different cell fate attractors has the potential to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms governing differentiation.