Quantitative Live-cell Reporter Assay for Noncanonical Wnt Activity

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Modeling Paracrine Noncanonical Wnt Signaling In Vitro
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Modeling Paracrine Noncanonical Wnt Signaling In Vitro

Published on: December 10, 2021

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Edith P Karuna1, Michael W Susman2, Hsin-Yi Henry Ho1

  • 1Department of Cell Biology and Human Anatomy University of California, Davis School of Medicine, Davis, California, USA.

Bio-Protocol
|May 18, 2018
PubMed

Insights

A new reporter assay quantifies noncanonical Wnt signaling, specifically Wnt5a activity. This breakthrough aids research into developmental processes and diseases like cancer by overcoming limitations in current measurement methods.

Area of Science:

  • Molecular Biology
  • Cell Signaling
  • Developmental Biology

Background:

  • Noncanonical Wnt signaling pathways regulate crucial developmental processes independently of β-catenin.
  • Dysregulation of these pathways is implicated in human diseases, including birth defects and metastatic cancer.
  • Limited availability of functional assays hinders the study of noncanonical Wnt signaling activity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To describe the development of a stable reporter cell line for monitoring noncanonical Wnt signaling.
  • To present a quantitative assay for measuring Wnt5a signaling activity in live cells.

Main Methods:

  • Generation of a stable GFP-Kif26b reporter cell line.
  • Development of the Wnt5a-Ror-Kif26b (WRK) reporter assay.
  • Utilizing flow cytometry for quantitative measurement of Wnt5a signaling.

Main Results:

  • Successful generation of a stable GFP-Kif26b reporter cell line.
  • Demonstration of the WRK assay's ability to detect and quantify Wnt5a signaling activity.
  • The assay monitors a post-transcriptional regulatory event in noncanonical Wnt signaling.

Conclusions:

  • The WRK reporter assay provides a direct and quantitative method to measure noncanonical Wnt5a signaling.
  • This tool facilitates further research into the role of Wnt5a in development and disease.
  • The assay enables live-cell analysis of Wnt5a signaling dynamics.
Keywords:
Flow cytometryKif26bNoncanonical Wnt reporterRegulated degradationWnt5a signaling

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