Aberrant activation of Wnt signaling is involved in the development of several epithelial tumors. Wnt signaling includes two major types of pathways: (i) the canonical or Wnt/β-catenin pathway; and (ii) the non-canonical pathways, which do not involve β-catenin stabilization. Among these pathways, the Wnt/β-catenin pathway has received most attention during the past years for its critical role ...

Background: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays an important role in neuronal growth; however, the downstream regulatory mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, we investigated whether BDNF exerts its neurotrophic effects through the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in human embryonic spinal cord neurons in vitro. Methods: The research was carry out by human embryonic spinal cord ne...

Canonical Wnt signaling has been implicated in an AP axis polarizing mechanism in most animals, despite limited evidence from arthropods. In the long-germ insect, Drosophila, Wnt signaling is not required for global AP patterning, but in short-germ insects including Tribolium castaneum, loss of Wnt signaling affects development of segments in the growth zone but not those defined in the blastod...

Constitutive activation of the Wnt signaling pathway is a hallmark of many cancers, including familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP)-related desmoid tumors. Endostatin is a well-known antiangiogenic protein that has been described recently as a potential inhibitor of this signaling pathway. Here, we show that endostatin directly induces apoptosis and inhibits the Wnt signaling pathway in colorect...

Wnt proteins are a large family of secreted glycoproteins. Wnt proteins bind to the Frizzled receptors and LRP5/6 co-receptors, and through stabilizing the critical mediator β-catenin, initiate a complex signaling cascade that plays an important role in regulating cell proliferation and differentiation. Deregulation of the canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, mostly by inactivating mutati...

It has been revealed that the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway plays an important role in the development of solid tumors and hematological malignancies, particularly in B-cell neoplasia and leukemia. In the last decade there have been made experimental approaches targeting the Wnt pathway in chronic leukemia. In this paper we provide an overview about the current state of knowledge regarding th...

This study was undertaken to define whether differences in the expression of Wnt pathway components are present between normal colonic mucosa, early (tubular) adenomas and villous adenomas which have a higher malignant potential. Normal mucosa, tubular adenomas and villous adenomas were obtained from twelve patients. RNA was isolated and utilized for Wnt pathway-specific membrane array expressi...

The canonical Wnt signaling pathway is of paramount importance in development and disease. An emergent question is whether the upstream cascade of the canonical Wnt pathway has physiologically relevant roles beyond β-catenin-mediated transcription, which is difficult to study due to the pervasive role of this protein. Here, we show that transcriptionally silent spermatozoa respond to Wnt signal...

The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, one of the most conserved intercellular signaling cascade, is a known regulator of cellular functions related to tumor initiation and progression, cell proliferation, differentiation, survival and adhesion. Because aberrant Wnt/β-catenin signaling has been observed in a variety of human cancers including a majority of colorectal cancers, about half of prosta...

Since the first Wnt gene was identified in 1982, the functions and mechanisms of Wnt signaling have been extensively studied. Wnt signaling is conserved from invertebrates to vertebrates and regulates early embryonic development as well as the homeostasis of adult tissues. In addition, both embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells are regulated by Wnt signaling. Deregulation of Wnt signaling i...