title: Wnt signal transduction pathways: modules, development and evolution.
abstract: Wnt signal transduction pathway (Wnt STP) is a crucial intracellular pathway mainly due to its participation in important biological processes, functions, and diseases, i.e., embryonic development, stem-cell management, and human cancers among others. This is why Wnt STP is one of the highest researched signal transduction pathways. Study and analysis of its origin, expansion and gradual development to the present state as found in humans is one aspect of Wnt research. The pattern of development and evolution of the Wnt STP among various species is not clear till date. A phylogenetic tree created from Wnt STPs of multiple species may address this issue.
  
  
  
  In this respect, we construct a phylogenetic tree from modules of Wnt STPs of diverse species. We term it as the 'Module Tree'. A module is nothing but a self-sufficient minimally-dependent subset of the original Wnt STP. Authenticity of the module tree is tested by comparing it with the two reference trees.
  
  
  
  The module tree performs better than an alternative phylogenetic tree constructed from pathway topology of Wnt STPs. Moreover, an evolutionary emergence pattern of the Wnt gene family is created and the module tree is tallied with it to showcase the significant resemblances.
authors.affiliation: Indian Statistical Institute, 203 Barrackpore Trunk Road, Kolkata, 700108, India.
authors.forename: Losiana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nayak
authors.affiliation: Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, 1/AF Bidhan Nagar, Kolkata, 700064, India.|Present Affiliation: Biomedical Genomics Centre, 5 Suburban Hospital Road, Kolkata, 700020, India.
authors.forename: Nitai P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Bhattacharyya
authors.affiliation: Indian Statistical Institute, 203 Barrackpore Trunk Road, Kolkata, 700108, India. rajat@isical.ac.in.
authors.forename: Rajat K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: De
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D010802:Phylogeny; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / Q000235:genetics; D060449:Wnt Signaling Pathway
chemical_list: D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S
keywords: Modularization algorithm; Module tree; Pathway development; Pathway phylogeny; Wnt gene family evolution; Wnt signal transduction pathway