Dishevelled-2: Proteins and Enzymes

Members of the Dishevelled family are cytoplasmic phosphoproteins, and orthologs of the Drosophila dishevelled segment polarity protein. Dishevelleds are expressed in multiple tissues where they are well known for their participation in Wnt signal transduction. They are modular proteins that connect Wnt ligand engagement with Frizzled receptors, to proteins involved in the stabilization of beta-catenin in the canonical Wnt pathway. Upon Wnt binding, Dishevelled becomes associated with the beta-catenin complex and blocks GSK-3 beta kinase activity. This leads to beta-catenin accumulation, the activation of LEF/TCF transcription factors, and transcription of their target genes.