Notch和Wnt信号通路在血管形成中的协同调控作用

Notch和Wnt信号通路能够调控细胞的分化、增殖、迁移和粘附等多种行为,在胚胎发育、干细胞分化及肿瘤生长等方面发挥多样性的调控作用.血管形成过程中的典型事件包括尖端细胞(tipcell)和柄细胞(stalkcell)分化、柄细胞增殖、内皮细胞迁移和粘附、血管重塑以及动静脉分化等.本文对Notch和Wnt信号通路在血管形成不同阶段的功能作一综述,以期描述Notch和Wnt是怎样在分子水平上协同作用进而调控血管的形成.从两条信号通路的分子水平及复杂信号网络中众多成员协调作用的角度了解血管形成的机制,对于调整肿瘤等涉及血管形成的相关疾病的治疗策略具有一定意义.     

Hippo/YAP和Wnt/β-catenin通路的对话

Hippo/YAP通路和Wnt/β-catenin通路是在细胞的生长分化、组织器官形成以及成体干细胞的维持等方面都起着重要作用的两条信号通路。在哺乳动物细胞中,Wnt/β-catenin通路通过一系列胞质蛋白的相互作用,使β-catenin蛋白在胞质内累积,进而入核传递生长刺激信号。Hippo/YAP通路通过激酶级联反应磷酸化YAP/TAZ,使其滞留在细胞质中,抑制了YAP/TAZ的转录活性,从而限制细胞的生长增殖,诱导细胞凋亡。这两条通路的异常调控往往会导致肿瘤的发生。近年来越来越多的研究证实,Hippo/YAP和Wnt/β-catenin在很多方面相互影响,共同参与组织生长和胚胎发育的调控。研究这两个通路在肿瘤发生过程中的转导和调控以及它们相互作用的机制,有助于为肿瘤的防治提供新的思路与策略。文章对这两条通路的协同作用及其分子机制进行了综述。     

TGF-β/BMPs、Wnt和MAPK信号通路在间充质干细胞向成骨细胞分化中的作用

间充质干细胞(mesenchymal stem cells,MSCs)是一种多潜能成体干细胞,具有向成骨细胞分化的能力.在MSCs向成骨细胞分化中,受到多种信号通路调控,其中TGF-β/BMPs、Wnt、MAPK信号通路发挥了重要作用.而且,通过对Smad1蛋白酶体的调节,Wnt和MAPK信号可以对TGF-β/BMPs通路进行调控.在相关信号通路的共同作用下,MSCs向成骨细胞分化.现对MSCs分化过程中TGF-β/BMPs、Wnt、MAPK这三条通路进行了简要综述.     

癌相关通路在肺腺癌中的共扰动机制

肺腺癌的发生涉及多个生物学功能通路的扰动,其遗传改变频繁地发生于MAPK信号、p53信号、Wnt信号、细胞周期和mTOR等通路的基因中。解析癌相关通路间的共扰动机制对我们理解癌机制以及寻找诊断标记具有重要意义。因此,本文基于肺腺癌突变谱数据,研究上述癌相关通路在肺腺癌中的共扰动机制。结果发现:在肺腺癌发生的过程中,MAPK信号、p53信号、Wnt信号、细胞周期和mTOR等通路同时被扰动。在不同的癌样本中,一对通路可能通过以下三种方式被共同扰动:(1)在两条通路中的不同基因间的共突变;(2)两条通路相互交叠基因的突变;(3)与两条通路同时具有频繁的互作关系的蛋白质的编码基因的突变。该结果提示,癌相关通路对在不同的样本中可能通过不同的方式被共扰动,这也可能是造成癌症异质性的重要原因之一。     

小鼠胚胎发育过程中Brachyury对Wnt信号通路的作用研究

Brachyury对调控小鼠胚胎发育起着至关重要的作用,缺乏Brachyury蛋白的小鼠胚胎不能正常发育。Wnt信号通路在小鼠胚胎发育中可控制胚胎的轴向发育等重要的生理过程,Brachyury可能通过与Wnt信号通路的相互作用导致短尾表型的产生。为了揭示Brachyury与Wnt信号通路相互作用关系,本研究制作了Brachyury突变小鼠,通过提取不同时期的胚胎并提取总RNA,经反转录进行qPCR检测Brachyury与Wnt信号通路相关成分的表达关系。结果显示,Brachyury、Axin2、Dkk1及Wnt3a的表达在突变胚胎和野生胚胎中的表达有显著差异。因此,Brachyury作为转录因子对上述Wnt信号通路成分的表达有调节作用,它们形成一个调控网络调控小鼠胚胎的正常发育。本研究为小鼠胚胎发育期间Brachyury (T)的功能作用提供了理论基础。     

经典Wnt信号通路与人类肿瘤

近年来,随着对肿瘤的深入研究,Wnt信号的研究也受到了高度的关注．Wnt信号通路是一条在进化上保守的信号途径,在控制胚胎发育,调节细胞生长、迁移、分化,调控正常组织重建等生命活动中发挥重要的作用,其异常活化与众多人类肿瘤的发生、发展密切相关．Wnt信号途径异常的核心是β-catenin在细胞内累积,并通过其下游途径引起特异靶基因的转录．本文着重介绍Wnt/β-catenin信号转导通路的研究进展及其与肿瘤的关系,了解该通路在肿瘤发生过程中的具体分子机制有助于为临床诊断提供依据,为早期干预治疗提供方法．     

Dkk1在器官发育及肿瘤发生中的调控作用

Wnt信号通路在脊椎动物的胚胎发育过程中发挥重要作用. Dkk1(Dickkopf1)是Dkk基因家族的成员之一,通过编码一种分泌型的糖蛋白与Wnt信号蛋白竞争细胞表面受体,来维持Wnt信号通路的稳态,从而调控胚胎器官的正常发育. 同时,在人类成体中,Dkk1基因活性的改变与肿瘤、代谢性骨病和骨关节炎等疾病的发生密切相关. 本文对Dkk1在头部、肢、眼和牙齿等器官的胚胎发育过程中的相关分子调控机制以及Dkk1与肿瘤发生的关系进行综述.     

经典Wnt信号通路对胰腺发育及其疾病发生的调控

经典Wnt信号通路是一条极其保守的信号通路,在多种组织器官发育及疾病发生过程中起重要作用,这条信号通路在胰腺中的作用近年来才逐渐被揭示.研究表明,经典Wnt信号通路在胰腺命运特化、胰腺祖细胞增殖等发育过程中起重要调控作用.另外.这条信号通路与Ⅱ型糖尿病和胰腺肿瘤的发生密切相关.本文对经典Wnt信号通路在胰腺发育及搪尿病和胰腺癌中的作用进行综述.     

Kremen2生物学功能研究进展

Kremen2 (kringle-containing transmembrane protein 2)是经典Wnt信号通路中的重要调控因子。起初Kremen2蛋白仅被认为是Wnt信号通路的抑制因子,但后期研究发现Kremen2蛋白在某些特定的生物环境中却发挥促进Wnt信号通路活化的作用。在对Wnt信号通路的调控过程中, Kremen2蛋白需要与多种蛋白质调控因子相互作用,以参与胚胎发育、骨形成、肿瘤发生等多种生理病理过程。通过对Kremen2相关研究文献的整理,本文综述了Kremen2蛋白的发现与分子结构,以及其主要的相互作用因子和蛋白质功能,并提出了相关研究展望。     

Dapper在胚胎发育和信号调控中的作用

Dapper（Dpr）是近期发现的信号调控分子。目前研究结果表明,爪蟾和斑马鱼等低等动物的Dpr在早期胚胎发育的多个过程中起重要作用,这些作用主要通过对Wnt和Nodal/TGF-β信号通路的负调控来完成。Wnt和TGF-β信号通路在胚胎发育和疾病发生过程中起着非常重要的作用,因而Dpr可能是通过影响这些信号通路而参与生理、病理过程。研究Dpr在体内的作用方式和机制对于理解生物体生长发育和疾病发生具有重要意义。     

Hear the Wnt Ror: how melanoma cells adjust to changes in Wnt

The interplay between canonical and non‐canonical Wnt pathways in development and tumorigenesis is tightly regulated. In this review we will describe the yin and the yang of canonical and non‐canonical Wnt signaling pathways during melanocyte development, and melanoma genesis. Canonical Wnt signaling, represented by Wnts such as Wnt1 and Wnt3A, signals via β‐catenin to promote melanocyte differentiation and tumor development. Non‐canonical Wnt signaling, specifically Wnt5A, regulates canonical pathways, and signals to induce melanoma metastasis. This review will focus on the role of Wnt5A during melanoma progression, and its relationship to canonical Wnt signaling.     

Identification of a specific inhibitor of the dishevelled PDZ domain

The Wnt signaling pathways are involved in embryo development as well as in tumorigenesis. Dishevelled (Dvl) transduces Wnt signals from the receptor Frizzled (Fz) to downstream components in canonical and noncanonical Wnt signaling pathways. The Dvl PDZ domain is thought to play an essential role in both pathways, and we recently demonstrated that the Dvl PDZ domain binds directly to Fz receptors. In this study, using structure-based virtual ligand screening, we identified an organic molecule (NSC668036) from the National Cancer Institute small-molecule library that can bind to the Dvl PDZ domain. We then used molecular dynamics simulation to analyze the binding between the PDZ domain and NSC668036 in detail. In addition, we showed that, in Xenopus, as expected, NSC668036 inhibited the signaling induced by Wnt3A. This compound provides a basis for rational design of high-affinity inhibitors of the PDZ domain, which can block Wnt signaling by interrupting the Fz-Dvl interaction.     

Molecular Role of RNF43 in Canonical and Noncanonical Wnt Signaling

Wnt signaling pathways are tightly regulated by ubiquitination, and dysregulation of these pathways promotes tumorigenesis. It has been reported that the ubiquitin ligase RNF43 plays an important role in frizzled-dependent regulation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Here, we show that RNF43 suppresses both Wnt/β-catenin signaling and noncanonical Wnt signaling by distinct mechanisms. The suppression of Wnt/β-catenin signaling requires interaction between the extracellular protease-associated (PA) domain and the cysteine-rich domain (CRD) of frizzled and the intracellular RING finger domain of RNF43. In contrast, these N-terminal domains of RNF43 are not required for inhibition of noncanonical Wnt signaling, but interaction between the C-terminal cytoplasmic region of RNF43 and the PDZ domain of dishevelled is essential for this suppression. We further show the mechanism by which missense mutations in the extracellular portion of RNF43 identified in patients with tumors activate Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Missense mutations of RNF43 change their localization from the endosome to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), resulting in the failure of frizzled-dependent suppression of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. However, these mutants retain the ability to suppress noncanonical Wnt signaling, probably due to interaction with dishevelled. RNF43 is also one of the potential target genes of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Our results reveal the molecular role of RNF43 and provide an insight into tumorigenesis.     

Biological functions of cytokeratin 18 in cancer

The structural proteins cytokeratin 18 (CK18) and its coexpressed complementary partner CK8 are expressed in a variety of adult epithelial organs and may play a role in carcinogenesis. In this study, we focused on the biological functions of CK18, which is thought to modulate intracellular signaling and operates in conjunction with various related proteins. CK18 may affect carcinogenesis through several signaling pathways, including the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt, Wnt, and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways. CK18 acts as an identical target of Akt in the PI3K/Akt pathway and of ERK1/2 in the ERK MAPK pathway, and regulation of CK18 by Wnt is involved in Akt activation. Finally, we discuss the importance of gaining a more complete understanding of the expression of CK18 during carcinogenesis, and suggest potential clinical applications of that understanding.     

FGF/MAPK signaling is required in the gastrula epiblast for avian neural crest induction

Neural crest induction involves the combinatorial inputs of the FGF, BMP and Wnt signaling pathways. Recently, a two-step model has emerged where BMP attenuation and Wnt activation induces the neural crest during gastrulation, whereas activation of both pathways maintains the population during neurulation. FGF is proposed to act indirectly during the inductive phase by activating Wnt ligand expression in the mesoderm. Here, we use the chick model to investigate the role of FGF signaling in the amniote neural crest for the first time and uncover a novel requirement for FGF/MAPK signaling. Contrary to current models, we demonstrate that FGF is required within the prospective neural crest epiblast during gastrulation and is unlikely to operate through mesodermal tissues. Additionally, we show that FGF/MAPK activity in the prospective neural plate prevents the ectopic expression of lateral ectoderm markers, independently of its role in neural specification. We then investigate the temporal participation of BMP/Smad signaling and suggest a later involvement in neural plate border development, likely due to widespread FGF/MAPK activity in the gastrula epiblast. Our results identify an early requirement for FGF/MAPK signaling in amniote neural crest induction and suggest an intriguing role for FGF-mediated Smad inhibition in ectodermal development.     

Axin在肿瘤发生中的作用机制

阐明肿瘤发生机制的细胞信号转导途径的研究是当今生物医学领域研究的热点。Axin是一个肿瘤抑制因子,它以构架蛋白的形式在Wnt、JNK、p53、TGF-β、G蛋白信号转导途径等众多信号转导途径中参与细胞生长、增殖、分化、癌变和凋亡等多种重要细胞命运的调控过程。现从Axin的发现、Axin通过多种信号转导途径抑制肿瘤发生和AXIN1基因突变与肿瘤发生之间的关系这三个方面介绍肿瘤抑制因子Axin与肿瘤之间的研究进展。     

Comprehensive transcriptome analysis of fluid shear stress altered gene expression in renal epithelial cells

Renal epithelial cells are exposed to mechanical forces due to flow‐induced shear stress within the nephrons. Shear stress is altered in renal diseases caused by tubular dilation, obstruction, and hyperfiltration, which occur to compensate for lost nephrons. Fundamental in regulation of shear stress are primary cilia and other mechano‐sensors, and defects in cilia formation and function have profound effects on development and physiology of kidneys and other organs. We applied RNA sequencing to get a comprehensive overview of fluid‐shear regulated genes and pathways in renal epithelial cells. Functional enrichment‐analysis revealed TGF‐β, MAPK, and Wnt signaling as core signaling pathways up‐regulated by shear. Inhibitors of TGF‐β and MAPK/ERK signaling modulate a wide range of mechanosensitive genes, identifying these pathways as master regulators of shear‐induced gene expression. However, the main down‐regulated pathway, that is, JAK/STAT, is independent of TGF‐β and MAPK/ERK. Other up‐regulated cytokine pathways include FGF, HB‐EGF, PDGF, and CXC. Cellular responses to shear are modified at several levels, indicated by altered expression of genes involved in cell‐matrix, cytoskeleton, and glycocalyx remodeling, as well as glycolysis and cholesterol metabolism. Cilia ablation abolished shear induced expression of a subset of genes, but genes involved in TGF‐β, MAPK, and Wnt signaling were hardly affected, suggesting that other mechano‐sensors play a prominent role in the shear stress response of renal epithelial cells. Modulations in signaling due to variations in fluid shear stress are relevant for renal physiology and pathology, as suggested by elevated gene expression at pathological levels of shear stress compared to physiological shear.     

Human papillomavirus type 16 E6 amino acid 83 variants enhance E6-mediated MAPK signaling and differentially regulate tumorigenesis by notch signaling and oncogenic Ras

Oncogenically high-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are causally associated with the progression of major human neoplasia-like cancers of the cervix. Several studies have defined functions of the key E6 and E7 oncoproteins in epithelial cell immortalization. The roles of these oncogenes in the progression of immortalized epithelial cells to invasive tumors are still poorly understood. Here, we establish a novel link between the E6 oncoprotein and activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling and show that this signaling involves Rap1. We find that activated MAPK signaling cooperates with deregulated Notch1 signaling to recreate features of HPV-driven invasive cervical carcinomas. We extend our analysis to evaluate an E6 (amino acid [aa] 83) variant that has been linked to invasive tumors. The variant enhances MAPK signaling and cooperative transformation with deregulated Notch1 signaling. Unlike E6, this variant surprisingly inhibits oncogenic Ras-mediated transformation. Our data reveal that the quantitative differences in activation of MAPK signaling by E6 and its variant correlate with differences in cooperative transformation with other signaling pathways, thus suggesting that thresholds of MAPK activation may define permissive conditions for other signaling pathways in tumorigenesis. Epidemiological studies have suggested the importance of E6 aa 83 variants in invasive carcinomas; our data support a key deterministic role for this variant in human cervical tumorigenesis. These observations, along with our recent data showing that deregulated Notch signaling activates phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signaling, strengthen the possibility of the existence of Ras-independent mechanisms to recreate signaling through classical Ras effector pathways.