Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 21, 2026

13:00
Studying Wnt Signaling During Patterning of Conducting Airways
Published on: October 16, 2016
7.8K
WNT Signaling in Neuroblastoma
Juergen Becker1, Joerg Wilting2
1Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University Medical School Goettingen, Kreuzbergring 36, 37075 Goettingen, Germany. juergen.becker@med.uni-goettingen.de.
Cancers
|July 24, 2019
Summary
WNT signaling, crucial in development, impacts neuroblastoma (NB) onset, progression, and chemoresistance. Understanding these pathways is vital for improving outcomes in this embryonic tumor.
Area of Science:
- Molecular Biology
- Developmental Biology
- Oncology
Background:
- WNT signaling is a complex pathway essential for embryonic development.
- It plays a significant role in various cancers, including neuroblastoma (NB).
- NB is an embryonic tumor with a wide clinical spectrum and high mortality.
Purpose of the Study:
- To discuss the developmental and clinical roles of WNT signaling in neuroblastoma.
- To explore WNT molecule implications in NB onset, progression, and relapse.
- To highlight the need for new therapeutic pathways due to chemoresistance.
Main Methods:
- Literature review and synthesis of existing research on WNT signaling in NB.
- Analysis of WNT pathway involvement in NB pathogenesis.
- Discussion of clinical implications and therapeutic resistance.
Main Results:
- WNT signaling pathways are implicated in the initiation and progression of neuroblastoma.
- Dysregulation of WNT signaling contributes to chemoresistance and relapse in NB.
- Molecular hubs within WNT pathways can interact across different branches.
Conclusions:
- WNT signaling is a critical factor in neuroblastoma development and treatment resistance.
- Targeting WNT pathways may offer new therapeutic strategies for NB.
- Further research into novel pathways is necessary to reduce NB mortality.
Related Concept Videos
Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathway
10.4K
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...
10.4K
Non-Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathways
8.3K
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...
8.3K
What is Cell Signaling?
129.9K
Despite the protective membrane that separates a cell from the environment, cells need the ability to detect and respond to environmental changes. Additionally, cells often need to communicate with one another. Unicellular and multicellular organisms use a variety of cell signaling mechanisms to communicate to respond to the environment.
129.9K
Endocrine Signaling
67.9K
Endocrine cells produce hormones to communicate with remote target cells found in other organs. The hormone reaches these distant areas using the circulatory system. This exposes the whole organism to the hormone but only those cells expressing hormone receptors or target cells are affected. Thus, endocrine signaling induces slow responses from its target cells but these effects also last longer.
67.9K
Bacterial Signaling
40.1K
Bacterial signaling can occur within bacteria (intracellular) or between bacteria (intercellular). At times, a group of bacteria behaves like a community. To achieve this, they engage in quorum sensing, the perception of higher cell density that causes changes in gene expression. Quorum sensing involves both extracellular and intracellular signaling. The signaling cascade starts with a molecule called an autoinducer (AI). Individual bacteria produce AIs that move out of the bacterial cell...
40.1K
Paracrine Signaling
59.5K
Paracrine signaling allows cells to communicate with their immediate neighbors via secretion of signaling molecules. Such a signal can only trigger a response in nearby target cells because the signal molecules degrade quickly or are inactivated if not taken up. Prominent examples of paracrine signaling include nitric oxide signaling in blood vessels, synaptic signaling of neurons, the blood clotting system, tissue repair/wound healing, and local allergic skin reactions. Nitric oxide as a...
59.5K

