Journal
CELL
Volume 105, Issue 4, Pages 533-545Publisher
CELL PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/S0092-8674(01)00336-1
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beta -Catenin is an essential molecule in Wnt/wingless signaling, which controls decisive steps in embryogenesis. To study the role of beta -catenin in skin development, we introduced a conditional mutation of the gene in the epidermis and hair follicles using Cre/loxP technology. When beta -catenin is mutated during embryogenesis, formation of placodes that generate hair follicles is blocked. We show that beta -catenin is required genetically downstream of tabby/downless and upstream of bmp and shh in placode formation. If beta -catenin is deleted after hair follicles have formed, hair is completely lost after the first hair cycle. Further analysis demonstrates that beta -catenin is essential for fate decisions of skin stem cells: in the absence of beta -catenin, stem cells rail to differentiate into follicular keratinocytes, but instead adopt an epidermal fate.
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