Wnts compromise a large family of secreted glycoproteins that have shown to be part of the signaling molecules that regulate several aspects of development such as axis formation and midbrain development [1, 2]. In mammals at least 19 Wnt members have been found. The interaction of a Wnt protein with members of the Frizzled (Fz) family of seven-pass trans‐ membrane cell-surface receptors trigge...

Wnt signalling pathways play crucial roles in developmental biology, stem cell fate and tissue patterning and have become an attractive therapeutic target in the fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Wnt signalling has also been shown to play a role in human Mesenchymal Stem Cell (hMSC) fate, which have shown potential as a cell therapy in bone and cartilage tissue engineering...

Like many other signalling pathways, the Wnt pathway is seen as part of a network that integrates extracellular information mediated by a variety of cell surface proteins to produce cell context-specific outputs. The identification of Frizzled as Wnt receptors (Bhanot et al, 1996) provided the essential link between extracellular Wnts and the intracellular components of Wnt signal transduction....

Wnts comprise a large family of secreted, hydrophobic glycoproteins that control a variety of developmental and adult processes in all metazoan organisms, including cellular proliferation, differentiation, migration and polarity. Wnts have many receptors that are present on a variety of cell types, partly specifying which Wnt pathways are activated. Recently, evidence has been accumulating that...

While the cytosolic events of Wnt/β-catenin signaling (canonical Wnt signaling) pathway have been widely studied, only little is known about the molecular mechanisms involved in Wnt binding to its receptors at the plasma membrane. Here, we reveal the influence of the immediate plasma membrane environment on the canonical Wnt-receptor interaction. While the receptors are distributed both in orde...

Wnt proteins are intercellular signals that regulate various aspects of animal development. In Caenorhabditis elegans, mutations in lin-17, a Frizzled-class Wnt receptor, and in lin-18 affect cell fate patterning in the P7.p vulval lineage. We found that lin-18 encodes a member of the Ryk/Derailed family of tyrosine kinase-related receptors, recently found to function as Wnt receptors. Members ...

Wnt signaling affects both bone modeling, which occurs during development, and bone remodeling, which is a lifelong process involving tissue renewal. Wnt signals are especially known to affect the differentiation of osteoblasts. In this review, we summarize recent advances in understanding the mechanisms of Wnt signaling, which is divided into two major branches: the canonical pathway and the n...

Frizzled7 is arguably the most studied member of the Frizzled family, which are the cognate Wnt receptors. Frizzled7 is highly conserved through evolution, from Hydra through to humans, and is expressed in diverse organisms, tissues and human disease contexts. Frizzled receptors can homo- or hetero-polymerise and associate with several co-receptors to transmit Wnt signalling. Notably, Frizzled7...