Cell signalling
When does Wnt5a turn β-catenin signaling on or off?
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
Purified Wnt5a can activate or inhibit β-catenin–TCF signaling depending on which Frizzled/receptor context is present.
How this study connects
Role on claims
Each row is a claim on a concept or method page where this paper supports, challenges, or qualifies the statement. Roles are hand-checked — not a model guess.
Not every tagged paper is a western-first study. APEX2 maps (22 OMM, 72 ERM proteins) are mass-spectrometry inventories; Wnt5a work uses purified ligand and receptor context to turn β-catenin–TCF signalling on or off; Cas13a plant antiviral work measures GFP and viral accumulation after targeting TuMV regions. Blots may appear as supporting assays, not as the experimental core.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
APEX2, Wnt5a, and Cas13a illustrate false-positive or peripheral lexicon hits: proximity proteomics, ligand/receptor signalling, and CRISPR interference on an RNA virus. Citing them as if they were western-blot method papers overstates how the method was used.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
Purified Wnt5a is not intrinsically canonical or noncanonical: with appropriate Frizzled receptors it can signal through β-catenin–TCF; otherwise it can inhibit that pathway. Receptor context explains prior controversies. A TCF-luciferase (or equivalent) readout is the classic assay here; one purified ligand does not map every tissue's endogenous receptor set.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
Clock-gated auxin reporters and Wnt5a TCF reporters both measure transcription, but one asks 'what time of day' (>10% of seedling genes cycle) and the other asks 'which Frizzled is present'. The same luminescence number cannot be compared across a plant growth assay and a mammalian β-catenin pathway.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
Open questions
Tensions this paper is part of
From concept pages' “where studies disagree.” Disagreement means the same question; scope means different assays, populations, or outcomes.
APEX2, Wnt5a, and Cas13a illustrate false-positive or peripheral lexicon hits: proximity proteomics, ligand/receptor signalling, and CRISPR interference on an RNA virus. Citing them as if they were western-blot method papers overstates how the method was used.
- Supports · Mapping the faces of mitochondria and ER
- Supports · Can Cas13a fight RNA viruses in plants?
Clock-gated auxin reporters and Wnt5a TCF reporters both measure transcription, but one asks 'what time of day' (>10% of seedling genes cycle) and the other asks 'which Frizzled is present'. The same luminescence number cannot be compared across a plant growth assay and a mammalian β-catenin pathway.
- Supports · Does the plant clock gate auxin responses?
Discoveries this paper informs or conflicts with
- The same Wnt protein switches β-catenin signaling on or off, depending on the receptor
This paper informs this development.
Study at a glance
- Design
- Animal / in-vitro — Purified Wnt5a across receptor contexts testing canonical vs inhibitory outputs
- N
- Receptor-context cell signaling assays — no single sample N
- Population
- Cells expressing Wnt receptors and responding to purified Wnt5a
- Outcome
- Context-dependent activation or inhibition of β-catenin–TCF signaling by Wnt5a
Structured fields used in claim comparison tables when every cited study has a complete layer.
Inspect source passages
When does Wnt5a turn β-catenin signaling on or off?
These passages occur verbatim in the stored paper text. They support the points listed below; they do not verify every statement in the explanation.
What pathway can Wnt5a activate or inhibit?
Activates or Inhibits β-Catenin–TCF Signaling Depending on Receptor Context Receptor Context Dictates Wnt5a Signaling Mikels Amanda J Nusse Roel rnusse@stanford.
Why do Wnt controversies arise?
attributed to the variety of cellular and organismal systems studied coupled with the previous lack of soluble, active Wnt proteins.
Key findings
Receptor expression dictates output: with appropriate Fz receptors, Wnt5a can signal canonically; otherwise it can inhibit β-catenin–TCF pathways—context explains prior controversies.
Methodology
Used purified Wnt5a protein across receptor contexts to resolve whether Wnt5a is intrinsically canonical or noncanonical.
Limitations
One purified ligand study does not map every tissue’s endogenous receptor set.
Related papers in this topic
Same topic cluster — not a recommendation engine.