WNT SIGNALING IN DEVELOPMENT AND DISEASE: MOLECULAR MECHANISMS AND BIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS

0506830 - BFÚ 2020 RIV US eng M - Monography Chapter
Bryja, Vítězslav - Bernatík, Ondřej
Dishevelled at the Crossroads of Pathways.
WNT SIGNALING IN DEVELOPMENT AND DISEASE: MOLECULAR MECHANISMS AND BIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS. HOBOKEN: JOHN WILEY & SONS INC, 2014 - (Hoppler, S.; Moon, R.), -, č. 2014 (2014), s. 207-216. ISBN 978-1-118-44409-2
Institutional support: RVO:68081707
Keywords : planar cell polarity * kinase-i-epsilon * signaling pathway * convergent extension
OECD category: Biochemistry and molecular biology
Method of publishing: Open access
http://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=PMC3407699&blobtype=pdf

Cell signaling mediated by morphogens is essential to coordinate growth and patterning, two key processes that
govern the formation of a complex multi-cellular organism. During growth and patterning, cells are specified by
both quantitative and directional information. While quantitative information regulates cell proliferation and
differentiation, directional information is conveyed in the form of cell polarities instructed by local and global cues.
Major morphogens like Wnts play critical roles in embryonic development and they are also important in
maintaining tissue homeostasis. Abnormal regulation of these signaling events leads to a diverse array of
devastating diseases including cancer. Wnts transduce their signals through several distinct pathways and they
regulate vertebrate embryonic development by providing both quantitative and directional information. Here,
taking the developing skeletal system as an example, we review our work on Wnt signaling pathways in various
aspects of development. We focus particularly on our most recent findings that showed that in vertebrates, Wnt5a
acts as a global cue to establishing planar cell polarity (PCP). Our work suggests that Wnt morphogens regulate
development by integrating quantitative and directional information. Our work also provides important insights in
disease like Robinow syndrome, brachydactyly type B1 (BDB1) and spina bifida, which can be caused by human
mutations in the Wnt/PCP signaling pathwa.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0297981