A Small‐Molecule Agonist of the Wnt Signaling Pathway

Abstract

A new tool for developmental biology: A screen of combinatorial chemical libraries identified the 2-amino-4,6-disubstituted pyrimidine 1 as a dose-dependent agonist of Wnt signaling. Tadpoles that developed from embryos treated with 1 had substantial head defects (see right-hand image; left=control). Compound 1 appears to mimic the effects of a Wnt ligand in a Xenopus model and may be a useful tool in the study of physiological processes that involve the Wnt pathway. Supporting information for this article is available on the WWW under http://www.wiley-vch.de/contents/jc_2002/2005/z462552_s.pdf or from the author. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.