Wnt/β-catenin signaling and disease

The WNT signal transduction cascade controls myriad biological phenomena throughout development and adult life of all animals. In parallel, aberrant Wnt signaling underlies a wide range of pathologies in humans. In this Review, we provide an update of the core Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, discuss how its various components contribute to disease, and pose outstanding questions to be addressed in the future.     

Wnt/β-catenin信号通路与肝癌

肝细胞癌是常见的恶性肿瘤,其发病机制尚未完全明确。Wnt信号通路与人体内多种病理生理过程相关,其中肝癌的发生、发展可能与经典的Wnt/β-catenin信号通路密切相关。Wnt/β-catein信号通路通过表达癌症相关基因、激活肝星状细胞、调控肝干细胞行为、促进肝癌细胞侵袭转移等方式调控肝癌的发生、发展。Wnt/β-catein信号通路在肝癌发生、发展中的作用有望为肝癌研究提供新的思路。     

Wnt/β-catenin signaling in hepatic organogenesis

Wnt/β-catenin signaling has come to the forefront of liver biology in recent years. This pathway regulates key pathophysiological events inherent to the liver including development, regeneration, and cancer, by dictating several biological processes such as proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation, adhesion, zonation and metabolism in various cells of the liver. This review will examine the studies that have uncovered the relevant roles of Wnt/β-catenin signaling during the process of liver development. We will discuss the potential roles of Wnt/β-catenin signaling during the phases of development, including competence, hepatic induction, expansion, and morphogenesis. In addition, we will discuss the role of negative and positive regulation of this pathway and how the temporal expression of Wnt/β-catenin can direct key processes during hepatic development. We will also identify some of the major deficits in the current understanding of the role of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in liver development in order to provide a perspective for future studies. Thus, this review will provide a contextual overview of the role of Wnt/β-catenin signaling during hepatic organogenesis.     

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。     

成骨细胞中经典Wnt/β-catenin通路研究进展

Wnt/β-catenin经典通路在成骨细胞的分化增殖中起着重要作用。目前研究表明,调节任何一个经典Wnt/β-catenin信号转导通路中的因子都能影响成骨细胞的分化增殖。总结经典Wnt/β-catenin通路中各个因子与成骨细胞分化增殖的关系,以便进一步具体深入研究经典Wnt/β-catenin通路对成骨细胞的影响。     

α-catenin

Downregulation or loss of α-catenin occurs in multiple human cancer types. The traditional view of α-catenin is that it is one of the core components of the E-cadherin-catenin complex and is required for maintaining the integrity of the intercellular adherens junction, a cell junction whose cytoplasmic face is linked to the actin cytoskeleton. Therefore, loss of α-catenin can result in loss of cell-cell adhesion, a common characteristic of cancer cells. There is an emerging recognition; however, that α-catenin also regulates multiple signaling pathways independent of adherens junctions. For instance, α-catenin functions as a tumor suppressor in E-cadherin-negative basal like breast cancer cells by inhibiting NF-κB signaling. In this perspective, we discuss the role and mechanisms of α-catenin in regulating several signaling pathways in cancer.     

Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in severe preeclampsia

This study aims to elucidate the mechanisms of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in the development of preeclampsia (PE). The mRNA levels of Wnt1, β-catenin, c-myc and cyclinD1 were determined by real-time PCR in the placentas. Moreover, the expression levels of Wnt1, β-catenin, Dickkopf-1 (DKK1) and glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK-3β) proteins were detected by Western blot. Immunohistochemistry was used in placental tissue microarray to localize the expression of Wnt1, β-catenin, DKK1 proteins in the placentas of two groups. Compared with the control placentas, the mRNA levels of Wnt1, β-catenin, c-myc and cyclinD1 were decreased in the severe preeclamptic placentas. The Western blot results showed that the expression levels of Wnt1, β-catenin, and GSK-3β proteins were significantly elevated in the control group, while the expression level of DKK1 was significantly decreased. In addition, the staining intensity of Wnt1, β-catenin were weaker in the placentas of the severe PE group while the staining intensity of DKK1 was significantly stronger in the placentas of the severe PE group. Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway may play a significant role in the pathogenesis of PE by regulating the invasion and proliferation of trophoblast.     

Wnt/β-catenin信号通路与干细胞衰老

Wnt/β-catenin信号通路作为一条进化保守的信号通路,有着广泛的生物学作用。研究发现,Wnt/β-catenin信号通路与干细胞衰老之间存在联系。激活Wnt/β-catenin信号通路可导致干细胞发生衰老变化,而抑制Wnt/β-catenin信号通路可延缓干细胞的衰老。本文对Wnt/β-catenin信号通路与干细胞衰老之间的关系及其作用机制作一综述。     

Wnt/β-catenin通路在成骨细胞中的作用

Wnt信号通路包括经典通路和非经典通路两种,其中Wnt经典通路又称为Wnt/β-catenin通路,其在成骨细胞的分化、增殖过程中发挥这重要的作用。Wnt信号通路实现过程中有多种因子参与,包括Wnt蛋白、β-catenin、蛋白激酶GSK-3β以及APC蛋白等多种。Wnt蛋白家族是由19种Wnt蛋白组成的,主要分为经典Wnt蛋白和非经典Wnt蛋白,其本质是一系列高度保守的分泌性糖蛋白,并且不同的Wnt蛋白对成骨细胞发挥着不同的作用,其中经典Wnt蛋白通过经典Wnt信号作用于成骨细胞对成骨细胞的增殖、分化有着重要的影响。本综述通过对Wnt经典信号通路过程中的多种因子与成骨细胞分化、增殖的关系进行分析总结,了解Wnt/β-catenin通路对成骨细胞的作用。     

Ectodermal Wnt/β-catenin signaling shapes the mouse face

The canonical Wnt/β-catenin pathway is an essential component of multiple developmental processes. To investigate the role of this pathway in the ectoderm during facial morphogenesis, we generated conditional β-catenin mouse mutants using a novel ectoderm-specific Cre recombinase transgenic line. Our results demonstrate that ablating or stabilizing β-catenin in the embryonic ectoderm causes dramatic changes in facial morphology. There are accompanying alterations in the expression of Fgf8 and Shh, key molecules that establish a signaling center critical for facial patterning, the frontonasal ectodermal zone (FEZ). These data indicate that Wnt/β-catenin signaling within the ectoderm is critical for facial development and further suggest that this pathway is an important mechanism for generating the diverse facial shapes of vertebrates during evolution.     

Wnt/β-catenin与肾脏损伤后的修复和纤维化

Wnt/β-catenin信号是一条进化上高度保守且极度复杂的发育信号通路,可调控胚胎发育、损伤修复以及多种人类疾病的发生、发展.大量证据表明,Wnt/β-catenin信号在肾脏早期发育中起关键作用,而在成年肾脏中则相对沉默.在多种肾脏病动物模型和人类肾脏疾病中它又被重新激活.急性肾损伤后Wnt/β-catenin的...     

基于Wnt/β-catenin信号通路的结直肠癌研究进展

结直肠癌是临床常见的消化道恶性肿瘤之一,目前以手术为主的治疗手段术后复发率高,寻找既高效又安全的预防药物成为研究热点。在结直肠癌的发生、发展过程中,Wnt/β-catenin信号通路的异常激活发挥了重要作用,探索该通路的多种成分和研究它们之间的相互作用机制,有助于开发出针对该通路特定靶位的有效拮抗剂,为早期防治结直肠癌提出全新的思路。本文就Wnt/β-catenin信号通路及相关基因和结直肠癌的关系及以Wnt/β-catenin信号通路为靶点的抗结直肠癌药物做一综述。