New aspects of Wnt signaling pathways in higher vertebrates

The development of tissues and organs in embryos is controlled by an interplay of several signaling pathways that cross-talk to provide positional information and induce cell fate specification. One of the major signaling systems is the Writ pathway which was recently shown to split into several intracellular branches which regulate multiple cellular functions. In the present review, we discuss novel members and their role in the diversification of the Writ pathway. Many of these components were studied in model organisms such as C. elegans, Drosophila and Xenopus. Here we focus on recent studies of mutant phenotypes in Mouse and Zebrafish which implicate members of the Writ pathway in processes such as axis and mesoderm formation, initiation of organ development and stem cell differentiation.