Evolutionary diversification of the canonical Wnt signaling effector TCF/LEF in chordates.

ABSTRACT: Wnt signaling is essential during animal development and regeneration, but also plays an important role in diseases such as cancer and diabetes. The canonical Wnt signaling pathway is one of the most conserved signaling cascades in the animal kingdom, with the T-cell factor/lymphoid enhancer factor (TCF/LEF) proteins being the major mediators of Wnt/β-catenin-regulated gene expression. In comparison with invertebrates, vertebrates possess a high diversity of TCF/LEF family genes, implicating this as a possible key change to Wnt signaling at the evolutionary origin of vertebrates. However, the precise nature of this diversification is only poorly understood. The aim of this study is to clarify orthology, paralogy, and isoform relationships within the TCF/LEF gene family within chordates via

SUBMITTER: Torres-Aguila NP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9303524 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature