The WNT signalling cascades have emerged as critical regulators of a wide variety of biological aspects involved in lung development as well as in physiological and pathophysiological processes in the adult lung. WNTs (secreted glycoproteins) interact with various transmembrane receptors and co-receptors to activate signalling pathways that regulate transcriptional as well as non-transcriptional responses within cells. In physiological conditions, the majority of WNT receptors and co-receptors can be detected in the adult lung. However, dysregulation of WNT signalling pathways contributes to the development and progression of chronic lung pathologies, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma and lung cancer. The interaction between a WNT and the (co-)receptor(s) present at the cell surface is the initial step in transducing an extracellular signal into an intracellular response. This proximal event in WNT signal transduction with (cell-specific) ligand-receptor interactions is of great interest as a potential target for pharmacological intervention. In this review we highlight the diverse expression of various WNT receptors and co-receptors in the aforementioned chronic lung diseases and discuss the currently available biologicals and pharmacological tools to modify proximal WNT signalling.

WNT信号级联已经成为成年肺中涉及肺发育以及生理和病理生理过程的多种生物学方面的关键调节剂。WNT（分泌的糖蛋白）与各种跨膜受体和共受体相互作用，以激活调节细胞内转录和非转录反应的信号通路。在生理条件下，可以在成年肺中检测到大多数WNT受体和共受体。但是，WNT信号通路的失调有助于慢性肺病的发生和发展，包括特发性肺纤维化（IPF），慢性阻塞性肺病（COPD），哮喘和肺癌。WNT与细胞表面存在的（共）受体之间的相互作用是将细胞外信号转换为细胞内反应的第一步。具有（细胞特异性）配体-受体相互作用的WNT信号转导中的近端事件作为药理学干预的潜在靶标引起了极大的兴趣。在这篇综述中，我们重点介绍了上述慢性肺病中各种WNT受体和共受体的多样化表达，并讨论了目前可利用的生物学和药理学工具来修饰近端WNT信号。