Function
Receptor for Wnt proteins. Most of frizzled receptors are coupled to the beta-catenin canonical signaling pathway, which leads to the activation of disheveled proteins, inhibition of GSK-3 kinase, nuclear accumulation of beta-catenin and activation of Wnt target genes. A second signaling pathway involving PKC and calcium fluxes has been seen for some family members, but it is not yet clear if it represents a distinct pathway or if it can be integrated in the canonical pathway, as PKC seems to be required for Wnt-mediated inactivation of GSK-3 kinase. Both pathways seem to involve interactions with G-proteins. May be involved in transduction and intercellular transmission of polarity information during tissue morphogenesis and/or in differentiated tissues. Together with FZD3, is involved in the neural tube closure and plays a role in the regulation of the establishment of planar cell polarity (PCP), particularly in the orientation of asymmetric bundles of stereocilia on the apical faces of a subset of auditory and vestibular sensory cells located in the inner ear.
Tissue Specificity
Detected in adult heart, brain, placenta, lung, liver, skeletal muscle, kidney, pancreas, thymus, prostate, testis, ovary, small intestine and colon. In the fetus, expressed in brain, lung, liver and kidney.
