Figure 6: Experimental upregulation of Wnt signalling leads to ectopic and accelerated bone development. | Nature Communications

Figure 6: Experimental upregulation of Wnt signalling leads to ectopic and accelerated bone development.

From: Wnt signalling underlies the evolution of new phenotypes and craniofacial variability in Lake Malawi cichlids

Figure 6

(a) Zebrafish treated with 10 mM of LiCl between 3 and 3.5 dpf exhibit variable but striking gain-of-function phenotypes with respect to bone deposition. Scale bar, 500 μm. (b,c). Two general phenotypic categories were recognized—ectopic bone formation and accelerated development of endogenous bone. Fish were observed with ectopic bony nodules distributed across the body. Pockets of mineralization were observed at regular intervals down the body (b, arrows). Ectopic mineralization was also observed in the fins (c, black arrowhead), around the developing jaws (c, black arrow) and coincident with pigment cells on the roof of the skull (c, white arrowhead). Scale bars, 200 μm in b,c. Notably, these areas of ectopic bone formation generally correspond with regions in which Wnt signalling was observed in zebrafish. In addition, relative to control larvae (d,f), zebrafish treated with LiCl (g–i) exhibited accelerated development of endogenous mineralized tissue, including the opercle (op), pharyngeal teeth (pt) and the notochord (noto). Scale bars, 100 μm (d–i).

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