Wnt Signaling Pathway and Its Significance for Melanoma Development

Melanoma is characterized by its high metastatic propensity. Melanoma metastasis is associated with an activation of signaling pathways that are responsible for embryogenesis. Wnt signaling pathway is considered as one of the key signaling cascades, whose aberrant activation results in melanoma development. Wnt signaling includes a complex network of intracellular interactions. Its ligands are able to initiate at least three signal transduction pathways: canonical and two noncanonical. According to modern views, canonical branch of Wnt signaling pathway is involved in cell proliferation and differentiation. Noncanonical Wnt signaling pathways, on the contrary, control cytoskeleton organization and cell motility. Currently, canonical and noncanonical Wnt signaling cascades are supposed to affect different stages of tumor progression. Canonical Wnt signaling pathway contributes to melanoma formation, while noncanonical branches of Wnt signal transduction are involved in metastasis.

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Kulikova К.V., Kibardin А.V., Gnuchev N.V., Georgiev G.P., Larin S.S. Wnt Signaling Pathway and Its Significance for Melanoma Development. Sovremennye tehnologii v medicine 2012; (3): 107