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Updated: Jul 21, 2025

Modeling Paracrine Noncanonical Wnt Signaling In Vitro
Published on: December 10, 2021
A WNT4- and DKK3-driven canonical to noncanonical Wnt signaling switch controls multiciliogenesis
Riley A Cooney1, Maxwell L Saal1, Kara P Geraci1
1Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA.
Abstract:
Multiciliated cells contain hundreds of cilia whose directional movement powers the mucociliary clearance of the airways, a vital host defense mechanism. Multiciliated cell specification requires canonical Wnt signaling, which then must be turned off. Next, ciliogenesis and polarized ciliary orientation are regulated by noncanonical Wnt/planar cell polarity (Wnt/PCP) signaling. The mechanistic relationship between the Wnt pathways is unknown. We show that DKK3, a secreted canonical Wnt regulator and WNT4, a noncanonical Wnt ligand act together to facilitate a canonical to noncanonical Wnt signaling switch during multiciliated cell formation. In primary human airway epithelial cells, DKK3 and WNT4 CRISPR knockout blocks, whereas ectopic expression promotes, multiciliated cell formation by inhibiting canonical Wnt signaling. Wnt4 and Dkk3 single-knockout mice also display defective ciliated cells. DKK3 and WNT4 are co-secreted from basal stem cells and act directly on multiciliated cells via KREMEN1 and FZD6, respectively. We provide a novel mechanism that links specification to cilium biogenesis and polarization for proper multiciliated cell formation.
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