Wnt Signal Transduction Pathways

Overview

Journal Organogenesis

Specialties Anatomy & Histology
Biology
Biotechnology

Date 2009 Mar 13

PMID 19279717

Citations 680

Authors

Yuko Komiya

Raymond Habas

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The Wnt signaling pathway is an ancient and evolutionarily conserved pathway that regulates crucial aspects of cell fate determination, cell migration, cell polarity, neural patterning and organogenesis during embryonic development. The Wnts are secreted glycoproteins and comprise a large family of nineteen proteins in humans hinting to a daunting complexity of signaling regulation, function and biological output. To date major signaling branches downstream of the Fz receptor have been identified including a canonical or Wnt/beta-catenin dependent pathway and the non-canonical or beta-catenin-independent pathway which can be further divided into the Planar Cell Polarity and the Wnt/Ca(2+) pathways, and these branches are being actively dissected at the molecular and biochemical levels. In this review, we will summarize the most recent advances in our understanding of these Wnt signaling pathways and the role of these pathways in regulating key events during embryonic patterning and morphogenesis.

Citing Articles

Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway: an attractive potential therapeutic target in osteosarcoma.

Ding Y, Chen Q Front Oncol. 2025; 14:1456959.

PMID: 40028002 PMC: 11867957. DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1456959.

Role of E-cadherin in epithelial barrier dysfunction: implications for bacterial infection, inflammation, and disease pathogenesis.

Lialios P, Alimperti S Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2025; 15:1506636.

PMID: 40007608 PMC: 11850337. DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1506636.

Genome-wide transcriptome analysis reveals differentially expressed genes and key signalling pathways associated with cryptorchidism in pigs.

Chakkingal Bhaskaran B, Meyermans R, Gorssen W, Van den Bogaert K, Bouhuijzen Wenger J, Maes G Sci Rep. 2025; 15(1):6307.

PMID: 39984550 PMC: 11845729. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-90471-9.

MicroRNA functions in osteogenic differentiation of periodontal ligament stem cells: a scoping review.

Limlawan P, Vacharaksa A Front Oral Health. 2025; 6:1423226.

PMID: 39959357 PMC: 11825769. DOI: 10.3389/froh.2025.1423226.

Tenascin-C Potentiates Wnt Signaling in Thyroid Cancer.

Hartmann H, Loberg M, Xu G, Schwarzkopf A, Chen S, Phifer C Endocrinology. 2025; 166(3).

PMID: 39951495 PMC: 11843548. DOI: 10.1210/endocr/bqaf030.

References

Rothbacher U, Laurent M, Deardorff M, Klein P, Cho K, Fraser S . Dishevelled phosphorylation, subcellular localization and multimerization regulate its role in early embryogenesis. EMBO J. 2000; 19(5):1010-22. PMC: 305640. DOI: 10.1093/emboj/19.5.1010. View

Park E, Kim G, Choi S, Han J . Role of PKA as a negative regulator of PCP signaling pathway during Xenopus gastrulation movements. Dev Biol. 2006; 292(2):344-57. DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2006.01.011. View

Reya T, Clevers H . Wnt signalling in stem cells and cancer. Nature. 2005; 434(7035):843-50. DOI: 10.1038/nature03319. View

Seifert J, Mlodzik M . Frizzled/PCP signalling: a conserved mechanism regulating cell polarity and directed motility. Nat Rev Genet. 2007; 8(2):126-38. DOI: 10.1038/nrg2042. View

Salinas P . Modulation of the microtubule cytoskeleton: a role for a divergent canonical Wnt pathway. Trends Cell Biol. 2007; 17(7):333-42. DOI: 10.1016/j.tcb.2007.07.003. View

Saneyoshi T, Kume S, Amasaki Y, Mikoshiba K . The Wnt/calcium pathway activates NF-AT and promotes ventral cell fate in Xenopus embryos. Nature. 2002; 417(6886):295-9. DOI: 10.1038/417295a. View

Itasaki N, Jones C, Mercurio S, Rowe A, Domingos P, Smith J . Wise, a context-dependent activator and inhibitor of Wnt signalling. Development. 2003; 130(18):4295-305. DOI: 10.1242/dev.00674. View

Wallingford J, Ewald A, Harland R, Fraser S . Calcium signaling during convergent extension in Xenopus. Curr Biol. 2001; 11(9):652-61. DOI: 10.1016/s0960-9822(01)00201-9. View

Salinas P . Wnt factors in axonal remodelling and synaptogenesis. Biochem Soc Symp. 1999; 65:101-9. View

10.

Solnica-Krezel L . Conserved patterns of cell movements during vertebrate gastrulation. Curr Biol. 2005; 15(6):R213-28. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2005.03.016. View

11.

Clevers H . Wnt/beta-catenin signaling in development and disease. Cell. 2006; 127(3):469-80. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2006.10.018. View

12.

Hendriksen J, Fagotto F, van der Velde H, van Schie M, Noordermeer J, Fornerod M . RanBP3 enhances nuclear export of active (beta)-catenin independently of CRM1. J Cell Biol. 2005; 171(5):785-97. PMC: 2171279. DOI: 10.1083/jcb.200502141. View

13.

Parker D, Jemison J, Cadigan K . Pygopus, a nuclear PHD-finger protein required for Wingless signaling in Drosophila. Development. 2002; 129(11):2565-76. DOI: 10.1242/dev.129.11.2565. View

14.

Harland R, Gerhart J . Formation and function of Spemann's organizer. Annu Rev Cell Dev Biol. 1997; 13:611-67. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.cellbio.13.1.611. View

15.

Gordon M, Nusse R . Wnt signaling: multiple pathways, multiple receptors, and multiple transcription factors. J Biol Chem. 2006; 281(32):22429-33. DOI: 10.1074/jbc.R600015200. View

16.

Chen A, Ginty D, Fan C . Protein kinase A signalling via CREB controls myogenesis induced by Wnt proteins. Nature. 2004; 433(7023):317-22. DOI: 10.1038/nature03126. View

17.

Park M, Moon R . The planar cell-polarity gene stbm regulates cell behaviour and cell fate in vertebrate embryos. Nat Cell Biol. 2002; 4(1):20-5. DOI: 10.1038/ncb716. View

18.

Bouwmeester T, Kim S, Sasai Y, Lu B, De Robertis E . Cerberus is a head-inducing secreted factor expressed in the anterior endoderm of Spemann's organizer. Nature. 1996; 382(6592):595-601. DOI: 10.1038/382595a0. View

19.

Inoki K, Ouyang H, Zhu T, Lindvall C, Wang Y, Zhang X . TSC2 integrates Wnt and energy signals via a coordinated phosphorylation by AMPK and GSK3 to regulate cell growth. Cell. 2006; 126(5):955-68. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2006.06.055. View

20.

Bartscherer K, Pelte N, Ingelfinger D, Boutros M . Secretion of Wnt ligands requires Evi, a conserved transmembrane protein. Cell. 2006; 125(3):523-33. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2006.04.009. View