The canonical Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway regulates Fgf signaling for early facial development

► The dorsal face is absent after conditional deletion of ß-catenin with Foxg1-Cre. ► Massive apoptosis follows diminished Fgf8 expression in the rostral head primordia. ► Fgf8 is a positive target of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling in the ANR and facial ectoderm. ► Fgf8 is ectopically expressed in the facial ectoderm by gain-of-function of ß-catenin. ► Shh expression is diminished in the telencephalon by loss-of-function of ß-catenin.