Alternative Wnt Pathways and Receptors

In addition to activating beta-catenin/TCF transcriptional complexes, Wnt proteins can elicit a variety of other responses. These are often lumped together under the denominator alternative or non-canonical Wnt signaling, but they likely comprise distinct signaling events. In this article, I discuss how the use of different ligand and receptor combinations is thought to give rise to these alternative Wnt-signaling responses. Although many of the biochemical details remain to be resolved, it is evident that alternative Wnt signaling plays important roles in regulating tissue morphogenesis during embryonic development.