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Updated: Aug 19, 2026

Modeling Paracrine Noncanonical Wnt Signaling In Vitro
Published on: December 10, 2021
Frat is dispensable for canonical Wnt signaling in mammals
Renée van Amerongen1, Martijn Nawijn, Jonathan Franca-Koh
1Division of Molecular Genetics, Centre of Biomedical Genetics, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, 1066 CX, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Wnt-signal transduction through beta-catenin is thought to require the inhibition of GSK3 by Frat/GBP. To investigate the role of Frat in mammalian development, we have generated mice with targeted mutations in all three murine Frat homologs. We show that Frat is normally expressed at sites of active Wnt signaling. Surprisingly, Frat-deficient mice do not display gross abnormalities. Moreover, canonical Wnt signaling in primary cells is unaffected by the loss of Frat. These studies show that Frat is not an essential component of the canonical Wnt pathway in higher organisms, despite the strict requirement of Frat/GBP for maternal Wnt signaling in Xenopus.
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