Herrera, AntonioMenendez, AngharaOchoa, AndreaBardia, LidiaColombelli, JulienPons, Sebastian2024-02-142024-02-142024-02-142023-08-0110.1242/dev.201651https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/203730WOS:001080010900001Here, we show that, in the developing spinal cord, after the early Wnt-mediated Tcf transcription activation that confers dorsal identity to neural stem cells, neurogenesis redirects beta-catenin from the adherens junctions to the nucleus to stimulate Tcfoependent transcription in a Wnt-independent manner. This new beta-catenin activity regulates genes implicated in several aspects of contralateral axon growth, including axon guidance and adhesion. Using liv e imaging of ex-vivo chick neural tube, we showed that the nuclear accumulation of beta-catenin and the rise in Tcfoependent transcription both initiate before the dismantling of the adherens junctions and remain during the axon elongation process. Notably, we demonstrated that beta-catenin activity in post-mitotic cells depends on TCF7L2 and is central to spinal commissural axon growth. Together, our results reveal Wnt-independent Tcf/beta-catenin regulation of genes that control the growth and guidance of commissural axons in chick spinal cord.Life Sciences & BiomedicineSpinal CordNeuroepitheliumCommissural NeuronsNeural DifferentiationCell PolarityAdherens JunctionsN-CadherinBeta-CateninTcf/Lef TranscriptionChicktext::journal::journal article::research article