Biochemistry of cell communication; new findings (Introduction)

by David Turell , Monday, July 23, 2018, 15:18 (2314 days ago) @ David Turell

Part of the WnT pathway now found:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/07/180720092455.htm

"This is a nice example of a rather unexpected discovery: by studying the development of the blood vessels of the brain, researchers have just shed light on a question that was pending for 10 years! They provide a molecular mechanism conferring ligand specificity to Wnt signaling, an ancestral communication pathway present in all vertebrates.

"Wnt is ancient pathway, whose evolutionary appearance dates back to the emergence of multicellular animals. It plays pivotal roles in cell to cell communication and governs several aspects of embryonic development and tissue homeostasis. When dysfunctional, Wnt signaling can be at the origin of many diseases, in particular several cancers. With 10 receptors and 19 ligands, recognizing each other, the complexity of the pathway seemed dizzying. How do vertebrate cells manage to interpret the many Wnt signals they encounter and trigger an adequate response? It is such an interpretation mechanism that ULB researchers have just discovered.

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"Previous findings had shown that two proteins expressed by cerebral endothelial cells, Gpr124 and Reck, are required for cerebrovascular development in response Wnt7 ligands. The team went on to study the mechanism by which the complex operates. Using genetic, biophysical and zebrafish experiments, researchers have shown that the complex Gpr124 / Reck acts as a decoding module: Reck recognizes the Wnt7 ligand, but the presence of Gpr124 is necessary to trigger Wnt7 signaling via Frizzled receptors. Their results are detailed in Science."

Comment: This is another example of designed molecules acting according to an intelligent design. A ligand is a substance that forms a complex with a biomolecule to serve a biological purpose. In protein-ligand binding, the ligand is usually a molecule which produces a signal by binding to a site on a target protein.