The well-conserved canonical and noncanonical Wnt pathways are important for all aspects of mammalian development, and various human diseases, including developmental diseases and cancer, are caused by abnormal Wnt signaling. Signals from extracellular Wnt ligands are received by three classes of coreceptors. These signals are interpreted and transduced to the nucleus and/or cytoskeleton via a number of intracellular proteins, including Dishevelleds (Dvls). In vivo pathways,  Dvls regulate normal development and are disrupted in the Dvl mutants to produce these phenotypes. Identified domains in Dvl proteins required for either canonical Wnt or noncanonical Wnt/PCP pathway function. Dvl1 may play some unique role in the brain, based on the singular behavioral phenotype displayed by the Dvl1 mutants. Dvl2 and Dvl3 may have higher levels of expression in the developing heart, which could explain the conotruncal defects displayed by these mutants.

References

1.Wynshaw-Boris A,et al. Curr Top Dev Biol. 2012;101:213-35.