WNT Inhibitory Factor 1 (WIF1)

WNT proteins are extracellular signaling molecules involved in the control of embryonic development. This gene encodes a secreted protein, which binds WNT proteins and inhibits their activities. This protein contains a WNT inhibitory factor (WIF) domain and 5 epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like domains. It may be involved in mesoderm segmentation. This protein is found to be present in fish, amphibia and mammals.The deduced 379-amino acid WIF1 secreted protein contains an N-terminal signal sequence, a 150-amino acid WIF domain, 5 epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like repeats that are similar to those of tenascin, and a C-terminal hydrophilic domain of approximately 45 amino acids. Overexpression of human WIF1 in frog embryos affected somitogenesis depending on the site and timing of WIF1 injection. .