Welcome to Vanderbilt University Medical School Department of Cell and Developmental Biology
When Xenopus early embryos are injected with a key component of the Wnt pathway (β-catenin), they undergo axis duplication and develop with two heads. Wnt signaling plays critical roles in early development, patterning of critical organs such as the heart and brain, and in maintenance of stem cells in adults. Misregulated activation of this pathway can lead to cancer. >90% of all sporadic (non-hereditary) colorectal cancers have mutations in this pathway.
