Introduction 

The Wnt system is one of the two main cell-signalling systems involved in the development of metazoan organisms.

 

The Wnt genes are so named by their similarity to the Drosophilia melanogaster wingless gene, the first gene shown to be similar being the mouse int-1 gene. Many other similar genes were found in mammals, all of which encode secreted, cysteine-rich glycoproteins. Their typical size is around 40kd.(R Nusse, et al. 1991).The Wnt name is a combination of wingless and int-1. 

Mammals have 19 known Wnt morphogens and 10 different frizzled (Fz) receptors.

In this paper, Xenopus Wnt8 was used as it can be purified in a complex with mammalian Fz receptors.


An image of the xWnt8 morphogen in complex with the cysteine-rich domain of its Frizzled (fz) receptor. See more detail on xWnt8 structure here. 

An original video showing the xWnt8-Fz (CRD) complex

Please Note that citations act as hyper-links to each scientific article. 

Nusse, R., Brown, A., Papkoff, J., Scambler, P., Shackleford, G., McMahon, A., Moon, R. & Varmus, H. (1991) A new nomenclature for int-1 and related genes: The Wnt gene family. Cell. 64 (2), 231.