Wnt inhibitory factor 1 (Wif-1) coordinates Shh and Wnt signaling activities in urorectal development

Abstract

In vertebrates, the urogenital sinus and the hindgut are connected at a hollow region called cloaca. A midline mesenchymal structure known as urorectal septum (urs) descends from the ventral body wall to separate the urogenital sinus from the hindgut before the formation of an anal opening. Subsequent cloaca membrane regression at the ventral midline of the genital tubercle (GT) is crucial for the formation of an anal opening. These two events are important during cloaca septation in urorectal development.

Mice with defective Shh or Wnt signaling displayed similar urorectal defects such as GT agenesis, un-partitioned cloaca (persistent cloaca) and proximal urethral opening that are attributable to increased cell apoptosis. Furthermore, Shh and Wnt signal transduction coordinate with each other and regulate cell survival of the developing urorectum. However, the molecular mechanisms by which these two signaling pathways coordinate in urorectal development remain unclear.

We previously identified Wnt inhibitory factor1 (Wif1) from Affymetrix array analysis for genes/pathways that is implicated in urorectal development. Wif1 is a secreted protein that binds directly to Wnt ligands preventing Wnts from binding to receptors. This leads to -catenin degradation and thereby inhibits their activities. It is known that Wif1 binds to Wnt3a and Wnt5a with high affinity and deletion of Wnt3a, Wnt5a and -catenin in mice caused GT agenesis, persistent cloaca and proximal hypospadias. Using ETU-induced anorectal malformations model, I found out that Wif1 is ectopically expressed in the un-tubularized and un-septated urorectum. Wif1 is mainly expressed at the fusing endoderm that associates with programmed cell death during cloaca septation. Exogenous addition of Wif1 protein in urorectum culture also caused cloaca membrane disintegration, and proximal urethral opening that may be due to aberrant apoptosis.

Shh and Wif1 are differentially expressed at the cloaca endoderm. In normal mice, Shh is highly expressed at the cloaca endoderm except those Wif1-expressing endodermal cells. Blockage of Shh pathway by cyclopamine in urorectum culture induced ectopic expression of Wif1, concomitant with genital tubercle hypoplasia and un-septated cloaca. More importantly, deletion of Shh in mice hastened Wif1 expression at the cloaca membrane endoderm and elicited increased cell death in the

Wif1 expressing endoderm. Wif1-/- embryos display urorectal defects including delayed genital outgrowth and proximal hypospadias. Therefore, disruption of spatiotemporal expression of Wif1 could lead to defective Wnt signaling and contributes to abnormal urorectal development in Shh-/- mutant.

Current study revealed that Wif1 is involved in urorectal development and is implicated in urorectal defects. It may function as a pro-apoptotic factor to regulate endodermal cell death which is essential for the septation process. Its specific expression is restricted at the midline cloaca endoderm by Shh signaling to inhibit local Wnt--catenin activities during cloaca septation. I proposed novel hypothetical models to explain (1) the significance of the tempo-spatial expression of Wif1; (2) the significance of cell death; and (3) the molecular mechanism that Shh signaling regulates Wnt signaling activities through Wif1 in urorectal development.