Wnt7a has been reported to signal via the canonical pathway, but also in non-canonical
pathways acting on the cytoskeleton. Since Wnt7a is expressed after neurulation, we set to
investigate the effects of Wnt7a on brain regionalization. We engineered transgenic mouse
embryos that, under control of the nestin second intron, overexpressed Wnt7a in neural
stem/progenitor cells. Surprisingly, transgenic embryos failed to complete cranial
neurulation due to reduced levels and an impaired distribution of actin microfilaments, β …