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Evolution of the Wnt Pathways

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Wnt Signaling

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 469))

Abstract

Wnt proteins mediate the transduction of at least three major signaling pathways that play central roles in many early and late developmental decisions. They control diverse cellular behaviors, such as cell fate decisions, proliferation, and migration, and are involved in many important embryological events, including axis specification, gastrulation, and limb, heart, or neural development. The three major Wnt pathways are activated by ligands, the Wnts, which clearly belong to the same gene family. However, their signal is then mediated by three separate sets of extracellular, cytoplasmic, and nuclear components that are pathway-specific and that distinguish each of them. Homologs of the Wnt genes and of the Wnt pathways components have been discovered in many eukaryotic model systems and functional investigations have been carried out for most of them. This review extracts available data on the Wnt pathways, from the protist Dictyostelium discoideum to humans, and provides from an evolutionary prospective the overall molecular and functional conservation of the three Wnt pathways and their activators throughout the eukaryotic superkingdom.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Cynthia Bradham for critical evaluation of the manuscript. J. C. thanks Athula Wikramanayake for allowing me the opportunity to contribute to this book. This work was supported by grants NIH 61464 and HD 14483.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biology Department, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Jenifer C. Croce & David R. McClay

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  1. Jenifer C. Croce
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  2. David R. McClay
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  1. University of Melbourne, VIC 3010, Parkville, Victoria, Australia

    Elizabeth Vincan

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© 2008 Humana Press a part of Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Croce, J.C., McClay, D.R. (2008). Evolution of the Wnt Pathways. In: Vincan, E. (eds) Wnt Signaling. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 469. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-469-2_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-469-2_1

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-60327-468-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-60327-469-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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