Differential expression of the frizzled family involved in Wnt signaling during chick limb development.

Members of the frizzled (Fz) family are involved in Wnt signaling during embryogenesis in the vertebrate. We identified chicken cognates of Fz-2, Fz-3, Fz-4, Fz-6 and Fz-8, and examined spatial and temporal expression patterns in the chick embryos by whole-mount in situ hybridization. Fz-4 is intensely expressed in the apical ectodermal ridge and distal mesenchyme of the limb bud at stages 20 to 27. The transcripts are confined to the posterior-distal end of the digit-forming region at stages 25 to 27. Fz-2 is weakly expressed in the proximal limb mesenchyme at stages 25 to 27, while Fz-3 and Fz-6 expressions are uniform in the limb bud at these stages. Fz-2 is also expressed in the dermatomyotome. No expression signal for Fz-8 is detectable in the embryo at stages 20 to 27. The differential expression patterns of the Fz family, together with spatially restricted expression of the Wnt family members in the developing limb, suggest distinct but overlapping functions to transduce Wnt signal implicated in cellular interaction during embryogenesis.