Wingless Type MMTV Integration Site Family, Member 9B (WNT9B)

WNT9B is a member of the WNT gene family. Study of its expression in the teratocarcinoma cell line NT2 suggests that it may be implicated in the early process of neuronal differentiation of NT2 cells induced by retinoic acid. This gene is clustered with WNT3, another family member, in the chromosome 17q21 region.WNT15 shows 53% amino acid identity to chicken Wnt14, 54% identity to human WNT14, and 65% identity to shark Wnt9. The deduced 359-amino acid protein shares significant identity with the 331-amino acid human WNT9B protein, and both proteins contain all 23 cysteines conserved in Wnt proteins. Northern blot analysis of adult mouse tissues detected highest expression in kidney and lower expression in liver, brain, male preputial gland, and female mammary gland. No expression was detected in other adult tissues examined.