Wnt signalling and its impact on development and cancer

@article{Klaus2008WntSA,
  title={Wnt signalling and its impact on development and cancer},
  author={Alexandra Klaus and Walter Birchmeier},
  journal={Nature Reviews Cancer},
  year={2008},
  volume={8},
  pages={387-398}
}
The Wnt signalling pathway is an ancient system that has been highly conserved during evolution. It has a crucial role in the embryonic development of all animal species, in the regeneration of tissues in adult organisms and in many other processes. Mutations or deregulated expression of components of the Wnt pathway can induce disease, most importantly cancer. The first gene to be identified that encodes a Wnt signalling component, Int1 (integration 1), was molecularly characterized from mouse… 
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1,477 Citations

3 ) Wnt signaling in Embryonic Development and Homeostasis
TLDR
A major challenge resides in developing a strategy efficient enough to target the dysregulated Wnt pathway in CSCs, while being safe enough to not damage the normal somatic stem cell population required for tissue homeostasis and repair.
Complexity of the Wnt/β‑catenin pathway: Searching for an activation model.
The way Wnt works: Components and mechanism
TLDR
How the critical Wnt pathway component, β-catenin, is in a “futile cycle” of constant synthesis and degradation and how this cycle is disrupted upon pathway activation is described.
Wnt5a can both activate and repress Wnt/β-catenin signaling during mouse embryonic development.
Non-canonical WNT/PCP signalling in cancer: Fzd6 takes centre stage
TLDR
The function played by Fzd6 in the physiology of normal and cancer cells has been highlighted in the view that an increased knowledge of the signalling pathways upstream and downstream of this receptor could ultimately result in the identification of new targets for cancer therapy.
The Wnt signaling pathway in cancer.
WNT Signaling in Neuroblastoma
TLDR
Developmental and clinical aspects of WNT signaling in neuroblastoma (NB), an embryonic tumor with an extremely broad clinical spectrum, ranging from spontaneous differentiation to fatal outcome are discussed and implications in NB onset, progression, and relapse due to chemoresistance are discussed.
Wnt-signalling pathways and microRNAs network in carcinogenesis: experimental and bioinformatics approaches
TLDR
The molecular mechanism(s) underlying the crosstalk between Wnt-signalling components (canonical and non-canonical) and miRNAs, as well as changes in the miRNA/Wnt-Signalling components observed in the different forms of cancer are overviewed.
The WNT signaling pathway from ligand secretion to gene transcription: molecular mechanisms and pharmacological targets.
Wnt signaling in cancer.
  • P. Polakis
  • Biology
    Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology
  • 2012
TLDR
The evidence supporting a role for Wnt signaling in human cancer is summarized, including a review of the genetic mutations affecting Wnt pathway components, as well as some of epigenetic mechanisms that alter expression of genes relevant to Wnt.
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