Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 21, 2025

The Soft Agar Colony Formation Assay
Published on: October 27, 2014
The Canonical Wnt Signaling (Wnt/β-Catenin Pathway): A Potential Target for Cancer Prevention and Therapy
1Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, School of Biology, College of Sciences, University of Tehran, P.O. Box 14155-6455, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract:
Precise regulation of signal transduction pathways is crucial for normal animal development and for maintaining cellular and tissue homeostasis in adults. The Wnt/Frizzled-mediated signaling includes canonical and non-canonical signal transduction pathways. Upregulation or downregulation of the canonical Wnt signaling (or the Wnt/β-Catenin signal transduction) leads to a variety of human diseases, including cancers, neurodegenerative disorders, skin and bone diseases, and heart deficiencies. Therefore, Wnt/β-Catenin signal transduction is a potential clinical target for the treatment of not only human cancers but also some other human chronic diseases. Here, some recent results including those from my laboratory highlighting the role of Wnt/β-Catenin signal transduction in human cancers will be reviewed. After a brief overview on canonical Wnt signaling and introducing some critical β-Catenin/T-cell factor-target genes, the interaction of canonical Wnt signaling with some common human cancers will be discussed. In the end, the different segments of the aforesaid signaling pathway, which have been considered as targets for clinical purposes, will be scrutinized.
Related Concept Videos
Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathway
Non-Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathways
Catenins
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...
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...
Targeted Cancer Therapies
There are several types of targeted therapies against...
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...

