Small interfering RNA-mediated knock-down of WNT pathway components, including WNT5A, FZD5, FZD9, LRP6, CTNNB1, and DVL2 diminished intracellular bacterial burden over 1-2 days of infection, further supporting the notion that intracellular survival of E. chaffeensis in this cell line was facilitated by the action of endogenous WNT ligands (42). Here, CTNNB1 is linked to infection.