Dkk2 plays an essential role in the corneal fate of the ocular surface epithelium |
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Authors: | Mukhopadhyay Mahua Gorivodsky Marat Shtrom Svetlana Grinberg Alexander Niehrs Christoph Morasso Maria I Westphal Heiner |
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Institution: | Laboratory of Mammalian Genes and Development, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. |
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Abstract: | The Dkk family of secreted cysteine-rich proteins regulates Wnt/beta-catenin signaling by interacting with the Wnt co-receptor Lrp5/6. Here, we show that Dkk2-mediated repression of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway is essential to promote differentiation of the corneal epithelial progenitor cells into a non-keratinizing stratified epithelium. Complete transformation of the corneal epithelium into a stratified epithelium that expresses epidermal-specific differentiation markers and develops appendages such as hair follicles is achieved in the absence of the Dkk2 gene function. We show that Dkk2 is a key regulator of the corneal versus epidermal fate of the ocular surface epithelium. |
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