text: β-Catenin also acts as a morphogen in later stages of embryonic development. Together with TGF-β, an important role of β-catenin is to induce a morphogenic change in epithelial cells. It induces them to abandon their tight adhesion and assume a more mobile and loosely associated mesenchymal phenotype. During this process, epithelial cells lose expression of proteins like E-cadherin, Zonula occludens 1 (ZO1), and cytokeratin. At the same time they turn on the expression of vimentin, alpha smooth muscle actin (ACTA2), and fibroblast-specific protein 1 (FSP1). They also produce extracellular matrix components, such as type I collagen and fibronectin. Aberrant activation of the Wnt pathway has been implicated in pathological processes such as fibrosis and cancer.  In cardiac muscle development, β-catenin performs a biphasic role. Initially, the activation of Wnt/β-catenin is essential for committing mesenchymal cells to a cardiac lineage; however, in later stages of development, the downregulation of β-catenin is required.