Going with the Wnt? Focus on 'Hyperaldosteronism, hypervolemia, and increased blood pressure in mice expressing defective APC

摘要

the wnt signaling system consists of ancient pathways with highly conserved core components tracing back more than 700 million years including insects and nematodes (20). Wnt signals classically play a crucial role in embryonic development concerning cell fate, motility, and polarity, as well as embryonic axis formation and the generation of limbs and organs (10, 16, 29; see also www.stanford.edu/~rnusse/wntwindow.html). However, more recent findings indicate that the Wnt cascades, or at least some of their core components, also take part in important functions in postnatal life, such as cancer and metastasis, schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease, type II diabetes and obesity, or recovery from ischemic renal failure (11, 16). Bhandaru et al. (3) explore a completely new aspect of Wnt signaling probing an involvement of one of its core components, adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) protein, in the regulation of sodium transport and volume homeostasis.