title: Wnt signaling, stem cells, and cancer of the gastrointestinal tract.
abstract: The Wnt signaling pathway was originally uncovered as one of the prototype developmental signaling cascades in invertebrates as well as in vertebrates. The first indication that Wnt signaling also plays a role in the adult animal came from the study of the intestine of Tcf-4 (Tcf7L2) knockout mice. The gastrointestinal epithelium continuously self-renews over the lifetime of an organism and is, in fact, the most rapidly self-renewing tissue of the mammalian body. Recent studies indicate that Wnt signaling plays a central role in the biology of gastrointestinal stem cells. Furthermore, mutational activation of the Wnt cascade is the principle cause of colon cancer.
authors.affiliation: Hubrecht Institute, KNAW and University Medical Centre Utrecht, 3584CT Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Arnout
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schepers
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Clevers
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005770:Gastrointestinal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D051153:Wnt Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D051153:Wnt Proteins