The gut epithelium is subject to constant renewal, a process reliant upon intestinal stem cell (ISC) proliferation that is driven by Wnt/b-catenin signaling. Despite the importance of Wnt signaling within ISCs, the relevance of Wnt signaling within other gut cell types and the underlying mechanisms that modulate Wnt signaling in these contexts remain incompletely understood. Using challenge of the Drosophila midgut with a non-lethal enteric pathogen, we examine the cellular determinants of ISC proliferation, harnessing kramer, a recently identified regulator of Wnt signaling pathways, as a mechanistic tool. We find that Wnt signaling within Prospero-positive cells supports ISC proliferation and that kramer regulates Wnt signaling in this context by antagonizing kelch, a Cullin-3 E3 ligase adaptor that mediates Dishevelled polyubiquitination. This work establishes kramer as a physiological regulator of Wnt/b-catenin signaling in vivo and suggests enteroendocrine cells as a new cell type that regulates ISC proliferation via Wnt/b-catenin signaling.
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One-pot synthesis of heterodimeric agonists that activate the canonical Wnt signaling pathway
Fragment antigen-binding domains (Fabs) from anti-Frizzled and anti-LRP6 monoclonal antibodies were conjugated using SpyTag–SpyCatcher chemistry via a one-pot reaction. The resulting synthetic heterodimeric agonist outperformed the natural ligand, Wnt-3a, in activating canonical Wnt signaling in mammalian cells. This approach should be broadly applicable to activate receptor-mediated cellular signaling.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1648035
- PAR ID:
- 10209654
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Chemical Communications
- Volume:
- 56
- Issue:
- 25
- ISSN:
- 1359-7345
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 3685 to 3688
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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