Bidirectional Wnt signaling between endoderm and mesoderm confers tracheal identity in mouse and human cells

Abstract

How murine tracheal mesenchyme is specified during development is unclear. Here, the authors show a Wnt pathway target, Tbx4, is needed but this is regulated by Wnt signals from neighbouring tracheal epithelial cells, and take advantage of this knowledge to generate tracheal cartilage and smooth muscle on dish from mouse and human embryonic stem cells.