Wnt signaling in the intestinal epithelium: from endoderm to cancer (original) (raw)

1. Alex Gregorieff and
2. Hans Clevers1
3. Netherlands Institute for Developmental Biology, Hubrecht Laboratory, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands

Abstract

The Wnt pathway controls cell fate during embryonic development. It also persists as a key regulator of homeostasis in adult self-renewing tissues. In these tissues, mutational deregulation of the Wnt cascade is closely associated with malignant transformation. The intestinal epithelium represents the best-understood example for the closely linked roles of Wnt signaling in homeostatic self-renewal and malignant transformation. In this review, we outline current understanding of the physiological role of Wnt signaling in intestinal biology. From this perspective, we then describe how mutational subversion of the Wnt cascade leads to colorectal cancer.

• WNT
• cancer
• intestine

Footnotes

• Article and publication are at http://www.genesdev.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gad.1295405.

• ↵1 Corresponding author. E-MAIL clevers{at}niob.knaw.nl; FAX 31-30-2121-801.

• Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press

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