Figure 7
Elevation of Wif1 expression increased cell apoptosis in the cloaca endoderm through Wnt-β-catenin signaling. Wif1 expression (Red) associated with cell apoptosis (Green) in wild-type embryo (a). Ectopic Wif1 expression domain (Red) in the cloaca membrane and at the tip of the urs colocalized with apoptotic cells (Green) in E11.5 ShhcreERT2/− mice (b). The cm was still intact at E13.5 in control embryos (c), whereas the cm was completely degraded at E13.5 resulting in perineal urethra in ShhcreERT2/− embryos (d). Asterisk indicates the absence of cm. Apoptotic cells (Green) in E11.5 wild-type control embryos (e), in mutant embryos with endodermal deletion of β-catenin (f) or with endodermal induction of constitutive active β-catenin (g) were localized by TUNEL. Scale bar: 50 μm
