Humans and mice have 19 identified WNT proteins that were originally classified as either 'canonical' or 'non-canonical' depending upon whether they were able to transform the mouse mammary epithelial cell line C57MG and to induce secondary axis formation in Xenopus (Wong et al, 1994; Du et al, 1995). So-called canonical WNTs, including Wnt1, 3, 3a and 7, initiate signaling pathways that destabilize the destruction complex and allow beta-catenin to accumulate and translocate to the nucleus where it promotes transcription (reviewed in Saito-Diaz et al, 2013). Non-canonical WNTs, including Wnt 2, 4, 5a, 5b, 6, 7b, and Wnt11 activate beta-catenin-independent responses that regulate many aspects of morphogenesis and development, often by impinging on the cytoskeleton (reviewed in van Amerongen, 2012). Two of the main beta-catenin-independent pathways are the Planar Cell Polarity (PCP) pathway, which controls the establishment of polarity in the plane of a field of cells, and the WNT/Ca2+ pathway, which promotes the release of intracellular calcium and regulates numerous downstream effectors (reviewed in Gao, 2012; De, 2011).
van Amerongen, R
De, A
Du, SJ, Christian, JL, McGrew, LL, Moon, RT, Purcell, SM
Wong, GT, Gavin, BJ, McMahon, AP
Wang, X, Wallace, HA, Page-McCaw, A, Lee, E, Thorne, CA, Chen, TW, Saito-Diaz, K
Gao, B
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