A new member of the frizzled family from Drosophila functions as a Wingless receptor

• DOI: 10.1038/382225a0
• Publication Date: 2003-08-12T02:06:21Z
• Authors: Purnima Bhanot; Marcel Brink; Cindy Harryman Samos; Jen-Chih Hsieh; Yanshu Wang; Jennifer P. Macke; Deborah Andrew; Jeremy Nathans; Roel Nusse
• Keywords: Armadillo Domain Proteins; Male; 0303 health sciences; Molecular Sequence Data; Dishevelled Proteins; Gene Expression; Proteins; Genes, Insect; Phosphoproteins; Frizzled Receptors; Cell Line; 03 medical and health sciences; Drosophila melanogaster; Protein Biosynthesis; Proto-Oncogene Proteins; Animals; Drosophila Proteins; Humans; Female; Amino Acid Sequence; Cloning, Molecular; Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing

Receptors for Wingless and other signalling molecules of the Wnt gene family have yet to be identified. We show here that cultured Drosophila cells transfected with a novel member of the frizzled gene family in Drosophila, Dfz2, respond to added Wingless protein by elevating the level of the Armadillo protein. Moreover, Wingless binds to Drosophila or human cells expressing Dfz2. These data demonstrate that Dfz2 functions as a Wingless receptor, and they imply, in general, that Frizzled proteins are receptors for the Wnt signalling molecules.