Eisenberg Leonard M, Eisenberg Carol A
Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA.
ScientificWorldJournal. 2007 Feb 2;7:161-76. doi: 10.1100/tsw.2007.71.
Wnts are a family of secreted signaling proteins that are encoded by 19 distinct genes in the vertebrate genome. These molecules initiate several signal transduction pathways: the canonical Wnt, Wnt/Ca2+, and Wnt/planar cell polarity pathways. Wnt proteins have major impact on embryonic development, tumor progression, and stem cell differentiation. Wnt signal transduction also influences the formation of the heart, yet many issues concerning the involvement of Wnt regulation in initiating cardiac development remain unresolved. In this review, we will examine the published record to discern (a) what has been shown by experimental studies on the participation of Wnt signaling in cardiogenesis, and (b) what are the important questions that need to be addressed to understand the importance and function of Wnt signal transduction in facilitating the development of the heart.
Wnt蛋白是一类分泌型信号蛋白，由脊椎动物基因组中的19个不同基因编码。这些分子启动多种信号转导途径：经典Wnt途径、Wnt/Ca2+途径和Wnt/平面细胞极性途径。Wnt蛋白对胚胎发育、肿瘤进展和干细胞分化有重大影响。Wnt信号转导也影响心脏的形成，但关于Wnt调节在启动心脏发育中的作用仍有许多问题尚未解决。在本综述中，我们将查阅已发表的文献，以识别：（a）关于Wnt信号在心脏发生中的参与情况，实验研究表明了什么；（b）为了解Wnt信号转导在促进心脏发育中的重要性和功能，需要解决哪些重要问题。
