Protein wntless homolog explained

Protein wntless homolog, commonly known as Wntless, is encoded in humans by the WLS gene .^[1] Wntless is a receptor for Wnt proteins in Wnt-secreting cells.^[2]

Wntless was shown to be a cargo for the retromer complex. It has been found essential for hair follicle induction.^[3]

A homozygous missense mutation in the WLS gene was identified in Zaki syndrome.^[4]

Further reading

• Bänziger C, Soldini D, Schütt C, Zipperlen P, Hausmann G, Basler K . Wntless, a conserved membrane protein dedicated to the secretion of Wnt proteins from signaling cells . Cell . 125 . 3 . 509–522 . May 2006 . 16678095 . 10.1016/j.cell.2006.02.049 . 7841408 . free .
• Otsuki T, Ota T, Nishikawa T, Hayashi K, Suzuki Y, Yamamoto J, Wakamatsu A, Kimura K, Sakamoto K, Hatano N, Kawai Y, Ishii S, Saito K, Kojima S, Sugiyama T, Ono T, Okano K, Yoshikawa Y, Aotsuka S, Sasaki N, Hattori A, Okumura K, Nagai K, Sugano S, Isogai T . Signal sequence and keyword trap in silico for selection of full-length human cDNAs encoding secretion or membrane proteins from oligo-capped cDNA libraries . DNA Research . 12 . 2 . 117–126 . 2007 . 16303743 . 10.1093/dnares/12.2.117 . free .
• Clark HF, Gurney AL, Abaya E, Baker K, Baldwin D, Brush J, Chen J, Chow B, Chui C, Crowley C, Currell B, Deuel B, Dowd P, Eaton D, Foster J, Grimaldi C, Gu Q, Hass PE, Heldens S, Huang A, Kim HS, Klimowski L, Jin Y, Johnson S, Lee J, Lewis L, Liao D, Mark M, Robbie E, Sanchez C, Schoenfeld J, Seshagiri S, Simmons L, Singh J, Smith V, Stinson J, Vagts A, Vandlen R, Watanabe C, Wieand D, Woods K, Xie MH, Yansura D, Yi S, Yu G, Yuan J, Zhang M, Zhang Z, Goddard A, Wood WI, Godowski P, Gray A . The secreted protein discovery initiative (SPDI), a large-scale effort to identify novel human secreted and transmembrane proteins: a bioinformatics assessment . Genome Research . 13 . 10 . 2265–2270 . October 2003 . 12975309 . 403697 . 10.1101/gr.1293003 .
• Matsuda A, Suzuki Y, Honda G, Muramatsu S, Matsuzaki O, Nagano Y, Doi T, Shimotohno K, Harada T, Nishida E, Hayashi H, Sugano S . Large-scale identification and characterization of human genes that activate NF-kappaB and MAPK signaling pathways . Oncogene . 22 . 21 . 3307–3318 . May 2003 . 12761501 . 10.1038/sj.onc.1206406 . 38880905 .

Notes and References

1. Web site: WLS - Protein wntless homolog - Homo sapiens (Human) - WLS gene & protein . www.uniprot.org . 30 May 2022 . en.
2. Eaton S . Retromer retrieves wntless . Developmental Cell . 14 . 1 . 4–6 . January 2008 . 18194646 . 10.1016/j.devcel.2007.12.014 . free .
3. Fu J, Hsu W . Epidermal Wnt controls hair follicle induction by orchestrating dynamic signaling crosstalk between the epidermis and dermis . The Journal of Investigative Dermatology . 133 . 4 . 890–898 . April 2013 . 23190887 . 3594635 . 10.1038/jid.2012.407 .
4. Chai G, Szenker-Ravi E, Chung C, Li Z, Wang L, Khatoo M, Marshall T, Jiang N, Yang X, McEvoy-Venneri J, Stanley V, Anzenberg P, Lang N, Wazny V, Yu J, Virshup DM, Nygaard R, Mancia F, Merdzanic R, Toralles MB, Pitanga PM, Puri RD, Hernan R, Chung WK, Bertoli-Avella AM, Al-Sannaa N, Zaki MS, Willert K, Reversade B, Gleeson JG . A Human Pleiotropic Multiorgan Condition Caused by Deficient Wnt Secretion . The New England Journal of Medicine . 385 . 14 . 1292–1301 . September 2021 . 34587386 . 9017221 . 10.1056/NEJMoa2033911 .