Dual-role regulations of canonical Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway

In recent years, Wnt/beta-catenin signaling has been identified as a key player in embryogenesis and human diseases. Canonical Wnt signaling pathway is controlled by a variety of classic molecules like Wnt, beta-catenin, Axin, APC, GSK-3beta and CK1, which interact and coordinate to regulate the expressions of cell signaling molecules. The latest evidences suggest that some components of the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling, like APC, GSK-3beta, CK1, Dkk2 and WISE, play dual roles different from what they have been thought previously. Here we reviewed some recent discoveries on the canonical Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway to provide some new ideas and principles for signaling transduction studies.PubMed02238-424