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Related Concept Videos

Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathway02:54

Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathway

The gene encoding the main signaling molecules of the Wnt signaling pathways (the Wnt proteins) was discovered almost four decades ago by Nüsslein-Volhard and Wieschaus. They identified and originally named the gene "wingless" (wg) after a phenotype discovered during their landmark genetic screen in Drosophila for body pattern defects. At around the same time, another researcher named Harold Varmus found that a murine tumor virus activates the mammalian wg homolog, Int-1, which results in tumor...
Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathway02:54

Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathway

The gene encoding the main signaling molecules of the Wnt signaling pathways (the Wnt proteins) was discovered almost four decades ago by Nüsslein-Volhard and Wieschaus. They identified and originally named the gene "wingless" (wg) after a phenotype discovered during their landmark genetic screen in Drosophila for body pattern defects. At around the same time, another researcher named Harold Varmus found that a murine tumor virus activates the mammalian wg homolog, Int-1, which results in tumor...
Non-Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathways01:41

Non-Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathways

Wnt is a zygotic effect gene that is expressed during very early embryonic development. It regulates various processes in animals starting from early development through the adult stage, such as organogenesis in the embryo and maintenance of neuronal and blood stem cells. Wnt proteins can induce a wide variety of intracellular pathways depending upon the specific abilities of different Wnt ligands to form a complex with shared and cognate receptors in the presence of different co-receptors. The...
Non-Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathways01:41

Non-Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathways

Wnt is a zygotic effect gene that is expressed during very early embryonic development. It regulates various processes in animals starting from early development through the adult stage, such as organogenesis in the embryo and maintenance of neuronal and blood stem cells. Wnt proteins can induce a wide variety of intracellular pathways depending upon the specific abilities of different Wnt ligands to form a complex with shared and cognate receptors in the presence of different co-receptors. The...
Catenins01:23

Catenins

Catenins are characterized by multiple binding domains and dynamic structures that allow them to function as linker proteins in cell junction complexes. All catenins, except α-catenin, contain a characteristic protein sequence called the armadillo repeat and are therefore also called armadillo proteins.
Catenins in Cell Junctions
Catenins bind to cell adhesion molecules such as cadherins and link them to different cytoskeletal proteins depending on the type of cell junction. At the adherens...
Notch Signaling Pathway03:14

Notch Signaling Pathway

The Notch signaling pathway is a major intracellular signaling pathway that is highly conserved over a broad spectrum of metazoan species. It stands unique from other intracellular signaling mechanisms in animals because notch protein itself acts as the receptor as well as the primary signaling molecule.
The Notch gene came into the limelight in 1914 after the discovery that its mutation in Drosophila melanogaster leads to a serrated (or "notched") wing margin phenotype. It was not until 1985...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 20, 2026

Modeling Paracrine Noncanonical Wnt Signaling In Vitro
11:14

Modeling Paracrine Noncanonical Wnt Signaling In Vitro

Published on: December 10, 2021

The evolution of the Wnt pathway.

Thomas W Holstein1

  • 1Department of Molecular Evolution and Genomics, Centre for Organismal Studies, Heidelberg University, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany. thomas.holstein@cos.uni-heidelberg.de

Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology
|July 4, 2012
PubMed
Summary

The Wnt signaling pathway, crucial for animal development, is ancient, originating before the divergence of major animal groups. Genomic analysis reveals its role in establishing the primary body axis during early evolution.

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary developmental biology
  • Comparative genomics
  • Molecular signaling

Background:

  • Wnt genes regulate critical developmental processes like embryogenesis and cell differentiation.
  • The Wnt signaling pathway is conserved across diverse animal species.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the evolutionary origins and early roles of the Wnt signaling pathway.
  • To provide evidence for the Wnt pathway as a primordial signaling system.

Main Methods:

  • Comparative genomic analyses of basal metazoan organisms.
  • Tracing the Wnt pathway's presence across different metazoan clades.

Main Results:

  • Wnt pathway components are present in all metazoan clades but absent in fungi, plants, and unicellular eukaryotes.

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The Power of Simplicity: Sea Urchin Embryos as in Vivo Developmental Models for Studying Complex Cell-to-cell Signaling Network Interactions
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The Power of Simplicity: Sea Urchin Embryos as in Vivo Developmental Models for Studying Complex Cell-to-cell Signaling Network Interactions

Published on: February 16, 2017

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 20, 2026

Modeling Paracrine Noncanonical Wnt Signaling In Vitro
11:14

Modeling Paracrine Noncanonical Wnt Signaling In Vitro

Published on: December 10, 2021

The Power of Simplicity: Sea Urchin Embryos as in Vivo Developmental Models for Studying Complex Cell-to-cell Signaling Network Interactions
07:34

The Power of Simplicity: Sea Urchin Embryos as in Vivo Developmental Models for Studying Complex Cell-to-cell Signaling Network Interactions

Published on: February 16, 2017

  • Genomic data suggest the Wnt pathway predates the diversification of major animal lineages.
  • The Wnt signaling center at gastrulation is key for anterior-posterior axis formation.

    • Conclusions:

    • The Wnt signaling pathway is an ancient, primordial system fundamental to early animal evolution.
    • Its role in establishing the anterior-posterior body axis is conserved throughout animal phylogeny.