title: Wnt signaling and the regulation of stem cell function.
abstract: Canonical Wnt signaling plays a crucial role in controlling cell expansion in many types of stem cells. Recent studies, however, demonstrated that Wnt is not only a general stem cell growth factor but can also influence cell lineage decisions in certain stem cell types by promoting specific fates at the expense of others. Thus, Wnt signaling elicits multiple functions in stem cells. Wnt activity appears to depend on cell-intrinsic properties that might change with time during development, thereby altering the cellular response to Wnt. Moreover, the spatial context of a stem cell also determines how the cell interprets Wnt signal activity, in that synergistic or antagonistic signaling pathways can modulate Wnt signaling. How a stem cell integrates Wnt and other signals and how such signaling networks regulate stem cell function on the molecular level remains to be elucidated.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cell Biology, Department of Biology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Hönggerberg, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland. maurice.kleber@cell.biol.ethz.ch
authors.forename: Maurice
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kléber
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sommer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019070:Cell Lineage; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D006801:Humans; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008954:Models, Biological; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*; D051153:Wnt Proteins
chemical_list: D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D051153:Wnt Proteins