Pathophysiological aspects of Wnt-signaling in endocrine disease

Wnt-signaling has recently been identified as a regulator of a number of endocrine functions in health and disease in addition to its original attribution to developmental biology. Writs are extracellular ligands oil frizzled receptors and on lipoprotein receptor-related protein co-receptors. Ligand binding leads eventually to the activation of intracellular signaling cascades: based oil the involvement of the transcriptional co-activator beta-catenin it can be distinguished between canonical (i.e. beta-catenin) and non-canonical Wnt-signaling. Recent studies revealed that canonical Wnt-signaling regulates the function of endocrine organs and contributes to a number of endocrine disorders. In this review. we would like to focus on a) recent mechanistic data on Writs in pancreatic beta-cell function; b) human genetic studies on Wnt signaling in type 2 diabetes mellitus; c) crosstalk between adipocytes and endocrine cells through Wilt-signaling molecules (With a focus Oil the role of Wnt-signaling in adrenocortical cells).