Wnt signaling (Homo sapiens)

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WNT signal, through the canonical pathway, controls cell fate determination and through the non-canonical pathway controls cell movement and tissue polarity. The name "wnt" is a fusion of two terms, wg derived from the Drosophila gene wingless (wg) and int derived from the proto-oncogene integration-1, which is the mammalian homolog of wg. ß-catenin is the key regulated effector of Wnt, involved in canonical signaling . Free ß-catenin is bound by a multiprotein "destruction complex". The ß-catenin destruction complex is comprised of ß-catenin, scaffold proteins (APC, AXIN) and serine/threonine kinases that phosphorylate ß-catenin casein kinase 1 (CSNK1A1, CSNK1D, CSNK1E, CSNK1G1) and GSK3B. The sequential phosphorylation of ß-catenin by casein kinase 1 and GSK3 is recognised by an SCF-class E3-ubiquitin ligase, which targets it for polyubiquitination and proteosomal destruction. Canonical WNT signals are transduced through a two-part receptor, a seven-transmembrane Frizzled (FZD) and low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 5/6 (LRP5/LRP6) to a ß-catenin (CTNNB1) signaling cascade. On recruitment of deshevelled (DVL1) to FZD and AXIN to LRP6, ß-catenin destruction complex disassembles leading to its stabilization and nuclear accumulation. Nuclear ß-catenin binds to T-cell factor/lymphoid enhancer factor (TCF/LEF) family of transcription factors and Legless family docking protein, BCL9. These activate the transcription of Wnt target genes CCND1, MYC. Non-canonical WNT signaling diverges downstream after being transduced through FZD family receptors and co-receptors, ROR2 and RYK. This pathway does not involve ß-catenin-mediated gene expression. Small G proteins such as RAC1, RHOA and downstream effectors of RAC including JNK are DVL-dependant effector molecules of the non-canonical pathway. These have been implicated in cytoskeletal rearrangement, dendrite growth and control of cell polarity and orientation. Nemo-like kinase (NLK) and nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) are Ca2+-dependant effectors of the non-canonical pathway. NLK inhibits canonical pathway by phosphorylation of TCF/LEF family transcription factors. NFAT transcription factor is implicated in convergent extension during early embryogenesis and carcinogenic metastasis.

Please access this pathway at NetSlim database.

If you use this pathway, you must cite following paper:

Kandasamy, K., Mohan, S. S., Raju, R., Keerthikumar, S., Kumar, G. S. S., Venugopal, A. K., Telikicherla, D., Navarro, J. D., Mathivanan, S., Pecquet, C., Gollapudi, S. K., Tattikota, S. G., Mohan, S., Padhukasahasram, H., Subbannayya, Y., Goel, R., Jacob, H. K. C., Zhong, J., Sekhar, R., Nanjappa, V., Balakrishnan, L., Subbaiah, R., Ramachandra, Y. L., Rahiman, B. A., Prasad, T. S. K., Lin, J., Houtman, J. C. D., Desiderio, S., Renauld, J., Constantinescu, S. N., Ohara, O., Hirano, T., Kubo, M., Singh, S., Khatri, P., Draghici, S., Bader, G. D., Sander, C., Leonard, W. J. and Pandey, A. (2010). NetPath: A public resource of curated signal transduction pathways. Genome Biology. 11:R3.