Abstract：
Wnt, a family of secreted signaling proteins, serves diverse functions in embryogenesis, organogenesis, cancer, and stem cell functions. In the context of development, Wnt has been considered a representative morphogen, forming concentration gradients to give positional information to cells or tissues. However, although gradients are often illustrated in schemata, the reality of concentration gradients, or in other words, actual spatial distribution of Wnt ligands, and their behaviors in the extracellular space still remain poorly known. To understand extracellular behavior of Wnt ligands, quantitative analyses such as fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) are highly informative because Wnt dispersal involves physical and biochemical processes, such as diffusion and binding to or dissociation from cell surface molecules, including heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs). Here, I briefly discuss representative methods to quantify morphogen dynamics. In addition, I discuss molecular manipulations of morphogens, mainly focusing on use of protein binders, and synthetic biology of morphogens as indicators of current and future directions in this field.
摘要：
Wnt,一个分泌的信号蛋白家族，在胚胎发生中具有不同的功能，器官发生，癌症,和干细胞功能。在发展的背景下，Wnt被认为是一种代表性的形态发生原,形成浓度梯度，为细胞或组织提供位置信息。然而,虽然梯度经常在图式中说明，浓度梯度的现实，或者换句话说,Wnt配体的实际空间分布，它们在细胞外空间的行为仍然鲜为人知。为了了解Wnt配体的细胞外行为，定量分析，如荧光相关光谱（FCS）和光漂白后荧光恢复（FRAP）是高度信息，因为Wnt扩散涉及物理和生化过程，如扩散和与细胞表面分子结合或解离，包括硫酸乙酰肝素蛋白聚糖（HSPG）。这里,我简要讨论量化形态发生原动力学的代表性方法。此外,我讨论形态发生原的分子操作,主要集中在蛋白质粘合剂的使用，和形态发生素的合成生物学作为该领域当前和未来方向的指标。
