{
  "abstract": "Wnt proteins regulate adult tissue homeostasis and repair by driving stem cell self-renewal and differentiation. High-performance Wnt preparations have enormous therapeutic potential, especially alongside various stem cell technologies. Currently, a major limitation of most Wnt preparations is that they inevitably require fetal bovine serum (FBS) or detergents to maintain Wnt solubility and activity. Recently, afamin (AFM) was identified as a serum factor that solubilizes Wnt3a in conditioned media (CM), obviating the requirement for animal sera. Here, we show that serum albumin (SA) helps maintain the activity and stability of AFM-solubilized Wnt3a in CM, likely through a stabilizing effect. We further demonstrate, using test-tube assays, that SA alone efficiently solubilizes purified Wnt3a (pWnt3a) independently of AFM. This approach enables the conversion of conventional detergent-solubilized pWnt3a (CHAPS–pWnt3a) into SA–pWnt3a through dialysis-mediated detergent removal. Together, these findings define a simple and robust SA-based strategy for preserving Wnt3a activity, addressing a long-standing challenge in both experimental and therapeutic settings.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 15,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Joo Hye Yeo",
      "orcid": "0009-0006-4551-8921"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jiyeon Chae"
    },
    {
      "name": "Soon Sung Kwon"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jaeeun Han"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ines Kusen"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ju Yeon Lim"
    },
    {
      "name": "Hyo Lee"
    },
    {
      "name": "Hansol Kim"
    },
    {
      "name": "Seungjoo Haam"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jae-Ho Cheong",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1703-1781"
    },
    {
      "name": "Taeil Kim",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4807-890X"
    },
    {
      "name": "Seok Jun Moon",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7282-2888"
    },
    {
      "name": "Yang Ouk Jung",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6410-4165"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jinu Lee",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8997-448X"
    },
    {
      "name": "Chul Hoon Kim",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7360-429X"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/94qkq8j49kryk.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1038/s42003-026-11202-y",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13714283/",
  "id": "94qkq8j49kryk",
  "issns": [
    "2399-3642"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-026-11202-y",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Article"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1312|Wnt/β-catenin signaling in development and cancer"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W4387373017",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-026-11202-y.pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13714283",
  "pmid": "42946778",
  "published": "2026-10-24",
  "publisher": "Springer Science and Business Media LLC",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/94qkq8j49kryk.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:50Z",
      "native_id": "10.1038/s42003-026-11202-y",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-026-11202-y"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-01T12:21:48Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13714283",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-026-11202-y"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biochemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:1312|Wnt/β-catenin signaling in development and cancer",
      "subfield": "molecular-biology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Serum albumin maintains Wnt3a water solubility and activity",
  "title_text": "Serum albumin maintains Wnt3a water solubility and activity",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-01T12:21:48Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/94qkq8j49kryk",
  "venue": "Communications Biology",
  "versions": []
}