A novel Wnt5a-Frizzled4 signaling pathway mediates activity-independent dendrite morphogenesis via the distal PDZ motif of Frizzled 4.

The morphology of the dendritic tree is critical to neuronal function and neural circuit wiring. Several Wnt family members have been demonstrated to play important roles in dendrite development. However, the Wnt receptors responsible for mediating this process remain largely elusive.