Teaching resource. Canonical Wnt/beta-catenin signaling.

This animation provides an interactive presentation of the Wnt signaling pathway as it may occur in multiple cell types. This animation would be useful in teaching developmental biology, immunology, and cell signaling courses. Activation of Wnt pathways can modulate cell proliferation, cell survival, cell behavior, and cell fate. In the basal, unstimulated state in the absence of ligand, there is a constitutively active kinase, which phosphorylates target proteins, resulting in their degradation. Thus, the presence of the ligand Wnt inactivates the kinase allowing accumulation of beta-catenin, which then translocates to the nucleus and acts as a transcriptional regulator.