[Role of the canonical Wnt signaling pathway in heart valve development]

Formation of the heart valves is one of critical steps in vertebrate cardiac development. Valvular heart anomaly can induce severe cardiac impairment, which is one of most common symptoms for congenital heart defects (CHD). The canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, which is essential for numerous developmental processes, has also been suggested to be involved in the regulation of proliferation, differentiation, and migration of myocardium, endocardium and valve primordia at different stages. The canonical Wnt signaling also regulates the endocardial-mesenchymal transformation (EMT) process during the endocardial cushion formation. This paper reviews current knowledge about the canonical Wnt signaling pathway in heart valve development, including the functional diversities of Wnt activity in heart valve development at different stages and its interaction with other valve-relevant signaling pathways and the potential role of canonical Wnt activity in heart valve mesenchymal stem cells at the late developmental stage.