Congenital malformations in diabetic pregnancy are still a major health concern despite the improvements in glycaemic control strategies. Advancing our understanding of the mechanisms responsible for diabetic embryopathies could help develop strategies to prevent this condition. It is known that maternal hyperglycaemia affects components of the Wnt-PCP signalling pathway, including the dishevelled-associated activator of morphogenesis 1 gene (Daam1), which is important for the morphogenesis of the eye and other organs. In this study, Patricia Ybot-González’s group sought to further explore the role of the Wnt-PCP pathway in diabetic embryopathies. They induced experimental diabetes in pregnant mice and found that maternal hyperglycaemia induced eye malformations in mouse embryos. In vitro studies confirmed sensibility of eye development to hyperglycaemia and showed reduced expression of Wnt-PCP pathway genes. Notably, Daam1-mutant embryos displayed similar eye malformations, which were worsened by environmental hyperglycaemia. These results show that maternal diabetes can affect embryogenesis by altering Wnt-PCP signalling. Modulating this pathway might thus represent a potential strategy to reduce the impact of diabetic embryopathies. Page
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
February 2015
New Special Issue: Translating Multiscale Research in Rare Disease. Edited by Monica Justice, Monkol Lek, Karen Liu and Kate Rauen.
This special issue features original Research, Resources & Methods and Review-type articles that aim to interrogate the mechanisms of rare diseases to foster meaningful clinical progress in their diagnosis and treatment.
The role of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) guidelines in disease modelling
The ISSCR provides comprehensive guidelines and standards for using human stem cells in biomedical research. In this Editorial, Cody Juguilon and Joseph Wu discuss how and why these should be incorporated in disease modelling research.
Subject collection: Building advocacy into research
DMM’s series - Building advocacy into research - features interviews, ‘The Patient’s Voice’, with patients and advocates for a range of disease types, with the aim of supporting the highest quality research for the benefit of all patients affected by disease.
Read & Publish Open Access publishing: what authors say
We have had great feedback from authors who have benefitted from our Read & Publish agreement with their institution and have been able to publish Open Access with us without paying an APC. Read what they had to say.
Biologists @ 100 - join us in Liverpool in March 2025
We are excited to invite you to a unique scientific conference, celebrating the 100-year anniversary of The Company of Biologists, and bringing together our different communities. The conference will incorporate the Spring Meetings of the BSCB and the BSDB, the JEB Symposium Sensory Perception in a Changing World and a DMM programme on antimicrobial resistance. Find out more and register your interest to join us in March 2025 in Liverpool, UK.
Social media
