Dishevelled (Dsh) is a family of proteins involved in canonical and non-canonical Wnt signalling pathways.

[1] It takes its name from its initial discovery in flies, where a mutation in the dishevelled gene was observed to cause improper orientation of body and wing hairs.

[4] Dishevelled plays important roles in both the embryo and the adult, ranging from cellular differentiation and cell polarity to social behavior.

[6][7] The prevention of this degradation by DVL allows for β-catenin buildup in the nucleus, where it acts as a coactivator for TCF (T cell factor) to activate Wnt responsive genes.

[3][7] For the Rho branch, Wnt signals induce DVL to form a complex with Daam1 (Dishevelled associated activator of morphogenesis 1).

[3] Activating the Rac GTPase stimulates the downstream effector c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), which controls rearrangements in the cytoskeleton and gene expression.

[7] More specifically, it regulates the polarity and movement of a cell, in processes in vertebrates (like Xenopus) including gastrulation, neural tube closure, and stereocilia orientation in the inner ear.

The DIX domain of DVL has five β-strands and one α helix with highly conserved amino acid residues.