Wnt signal transduction pathway and apoptosis: a review

The association between the wnt signaling pathway and apoptosis has become more firmly established in the recent scientific literature. Many reports indicate that the wnt signaling pathway regulates apoptosis through a variety of mechanisms. The activity of wnt signaling according to specific cellular environment stimuli can either foster or restrain the processes of apoptosis. Wnt signaling regulates the early and late stages of apoptosis in both development and cellular injury in populations of neurons, endothelial cells, vascular smooth muscle cells and cardiomyocytes. In this review I draw attention to genes and proteins of the wnt signaling pathway involved in apoptosis and describe some of their functional effects.