title: β-catenin-dependent Wnt signaling in C. elegans: teaching an old dog a new trick.
abstract: Wnt signaling is an evolutionarily ancient pathway used to regulate many events during metazoan development. Genetic results from Caenorhabditis elegans more than a dozen years ago suggested that Wnt signaling in this nematode worm might be different than in vertebrates and Drosophila: the worm had a small number of Wnts, too many β-catenins, and some Wnt pathway components functioned in an opposite manner than in other species. Work over the ensuing years has clarified that C. elegans does possess a canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway similar to that in other metazoans, but that the majority of Wnt signaling in this species may proceed via a variant Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway that uses some new components (mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling enzymes), and in which some conserved pathway components (β-catenin, T-cell factor [TCF]) are used in new and interesting ways. This review summarizes our current understanding of the canonical and novel TCF/β-catenin-dependent signaling pathways in C. elegans.
authors: Department of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland 20814, USA.
authors: Belinda M
authors: BM
authors: Jackson
authors: David M
authors: DM
authors: Eisenmann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004627:Embryonic Induction / Q000502:physiology*; D004707:Endoderm / Q000196:embryology*; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009417:Nerve Tissue / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology; D060449:Wnt Signaling Pathway / Q000502:physiology*; D051176:beta Catenin / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; C115014:bar-1 protein, C elegans; D051176:beta Catenin; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases