At the same time as the mechanistic understanding of the WNT signalling system, with its family of 19 secreted lipoglycoproteins, 10 class Frizzled GPCRs (FZD 1-10 ), several single transmembrane-spanning receptors [LDL receptorrelated protein 5/6 (LRP5/6), ROR1/2, RYK and PTK7] and a plethora of extracellular modulators [Dickkopfs (DKKs), SFRPs, WIFs, etc.] at the core of the pathway, is improving it becomes obvious that targeting this system therapeutically comes both with great potential and substantial challenges. This themed section about WNT signalling in the British Journal of Pharmacology aims to underline the progress in our more and more detailed understanding of signalling mechanisms, to summarize emerging concepts for therapy and to highlight novel developments with therapeutic potential. In addition, we aim to bridge the scientific disciplines of cell biology, developmental biology, stem cell biology, oncology, drug development and pharmacology in order to promote a truly translational approach with the goal of obtaining more effective drugs, with higher selectivity and less unwanted side effects, for treating various human diseases.
WNT2016@Brno -The 2016International WNT Meeting at Masaryk University, Brno, CZThe WNT meeting in Brno, the city of Gregor Johann Mendel, the founder of genetics, was a continuation of the EMBO conference series on WNT signalling and provided a broad overview of the exciting developments in the research field ranging from deeper structural and molecular insights to disease mechanisms and novel drug targets. In addition, this meeting marks the end of a successful international training network (WntsApp -www.wntsapp.eu) funded by the frame programme FP7 and the Marie Curie Actions/European Commission, in which several members of the conference's organizing committee and participants collaborated. Given the substantial and exciting progress in areas such as establishment and use of organoid cultures, receptor dynamics, WNT secretion, stem cell regulation, single-cell sequencing, novel treatment paradigms for human disease and drug development, an atmosphere of optimism and ambition was present at the meeting. The