1. Secretion and extracellular space travel of Wnt proteins
- Author
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Julia Christina Gross and Michael Boutros
- Subjects
Neurodegeneration ,Wnt signaling pathway ,Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ,LRP6 ,Cell Differentiation ,LRP5 ,Biology ,Endoplasmic Reticulum ,Exosomes ,medicine.disease ,Microvesicles ,Cell biology ,Wnt Proteins ,Genetics ,Extracellular ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,Secretion ,Stem cell ,Extracellular Space ,Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions ,Wnt Signaling Pathway ,Developmental Biology - Abstract
Wnt signaling pathways control many processes during development, stem cell maintenance and homeostasis, and their aberrant regulation has been linked to diseases in man including diabetes, neurodegeneration and cancer. Wnts are hydrophobic proteins, however, quite paradoxically, they can travel over distances to induce cell-type specific responses. While there has been an initial focus on elucidating the intracellular signaling cascade, discoveries in the past few years have shed light on a highly complex, and regulated secretory process that guides Wnt proteins through the exocytic pathway. Wnt proteins are at least in portion packaged onto extracellular carriers such as exosomes. Similar to dysregulation of components in the Wnt receiving cell, failure to regulate Wnt secretion has been linked to cancer. Here, we review recent discoveries on factors and processes implicated in Wnt secretion.
- Published
- 2013