Metabolic Contributions of Wnt Signaling: More Than Controlling Flight

Frederic Abou Azar; Gareth E Lim

doi:10.3389/fcell.2021.709823

Metabolic Contributions of Wnt Signaling: More Than Controlling Flight

Front Cell Dev Biol. 2021 Sep 9:9:709823. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2021.709823. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Frederic Abou Azar^{1

2}, Gareth E Lim^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
² Cardiometabolic Axis, Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CRCHUM), Montreal, QC, Canada.

Abstract

The canonical Wnt signaling pathway is ubiquitous throughout the body and influences a diverse array of physiological processes. Following the initial discovery of the Wnt signaling pathway during wing development in Drosophila melanogaster, it is now widely appreciated that active Wnt signaling in mammals is necessary for the development and growth of various tissues involved in whole-body metabolism, such as brain, liver, pancreas, muscle, and adipose. Moreover, elegant gain- and loss-of-function studies have dissected the tissue-specific roles of various downstream effector molecules in the regulation of energy homeostasis. This review attempts to highlight and summarize the contributions of the Wnt signaling pathway and its downstream effectors on whole-body metabolism and their influence on the development of metabolic diseases, such as diabetes and obesity. A better understanding of the Wnt signaling pathway in these tissues may aid in guiding the development of future therapeutics to treat metabolic diseases.

Keywords: GSK-3β; TCF7L2; Wnt signaling; embryogenesis; metabolism; organogenesis; β-catenin.

Publication types

Review