Recommend Organogenesis to your librarian for 2008. Download form here.
Sign up for Table of Contents Alerts.
Email this page
Print this page
Review
Wnt signaling in gut organogenesis
Michael P. Verzi and Ramesh A. Shivdasani
volume 4 | issue 2
april/may/june 2008Pages: 87 - 91
Subscribe to this journal for $59/year
Wnt signaling regulates some aspect of development of nearly all endoderm-derived organs and Wnts mediate both differentiation and proliferation at different steps during visceral organogenesis. Wnt2b induces liver formation in zebrafish and may combine with other inducers, Fibroblast Growth Factors 1 & 4 and Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4, to specify the mammalian liver. Later in development, Wnts are critical for liver expansion and, finally, for terminal hepatocyte differentiation, as reviewed elsewhere in this issue. Likewise, in the pancreas, Wnts drive proliferation of exocrine and endocrine cells and promote acinar cell differentiation as reviewed in the chapter by Murtaugh. Here we examine the intricate involvement of Wnt signaling in growth and differentiation of the digestive tract.
Authors
Michael P. Verzi
Department of Medical Oncology; Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Boston, Massachusetts USA
Ramesh A. Shivdasani
Department of Medical Oncology; Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Boston, Massachusetts USA