Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 27, 2025

The Soft Agar Colony Formation Assay
Published on: October 27, 2014
Wnt Signaling: Paths for Cancer Progression
Filipa Carreira-Barbosa1, Sofia C Nunes2,3
1Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa (FCUL-UL), Lisbon, Portugal.
Abstract:
The Wnt signaling pathways are well known for having several pivotal roles during embryonic development. However, the same developmental signaling pathways also present key roles in cancer initiation and progression. In this chapter, several issues regarding the roles of both canonical and non-canonical Wnt signaling pathways in cancer will be explored, mainly concerning their role in the maintenance of cancer stemness, in the metabolism reprograming of cancer cells and in the modulation of the tumor microenvironment. The role of Wnt signaling cascades in the response of cancer cells to anti-cancer treatments will be also discussed, as well as its potential therapeutic targeting during cancer treatment. Collectively, increasing evidence has been supporting pivotal roles of Wnt signaling in several features of cancer biology, however; a lot is still to be elucidated.
Related Concept Videos
Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathway
Non-Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathways
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...
Tumor Progression
Colon cancer is one of the best-documented examples of tumor progression. Early mutation in the APC gene in colon cells causes a small growth on the colon wall called a polyp. With time, this polyp grows into a benign, pre-cancerous tumor. Further...
Interactions Between Signaling Pathways
Convergence and divergence, and cross-talk between signaling pathways
Two distinct signaling pathways can converge on a single functional unit, which may either be a single protein or a complex of proteins. The response is either functionally distinct or synergistic between the two pathways but different from the response...
Cancer Cell Migration through Invadopodia

