Background:

Wnt agonist 1 is a small-molecule agonist of Wnt signaling pathway [1].

The Wnt signaling pathway is an important signal transduction pathway that involved in a variety of physiological and pathological processes by regulating genes involved in cellular adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation [1].

Wnt agonist 1 is a cell-permeable Wnt signaling pathway agonist. Wnt agonist 1 induced b-catenin- and TCF-dependent transcriptional activity in a dose-dependent way with EC50 of 0.7 μM. In Xenopus embryos, treatment with Wnt agonist 1 (10 μM) from developmental stage 10.5 to stage 40 resulted in substantial head defects, such as diminished heads and complete loss of eyes, and reduced eyes and heads. This phenotype is similar to that which results from Wnt over-expression in head specification during early embryonic development.

Reference:
[1].Liu J, Wu X, Mitchell B, et al.? A small-molecule agonist of the Wnt signaling pathway. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2005 Mar 18;44(13):1987-90.