Therapeutic Targeting of Wnt Signaling Beyond Β-Catenin and The

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Therapeutic Targeting of Wnt Signaling Beyond Β-Catenin and The Jung and Park Experimental & Molecular Medicine (2020) 52:183–191 https://doi.org/10.1038/s12276-020-0380-6 Experimental & Molecular Medicine REVIEW ARTICLE Open Access Wntsignalingincancer:therapeutictargetingof Wntsignalingbeyondβ-catenin and the destruction complex Youn-Sang Jung1 and Jae-Il Park 1,2,3 Abstract Wnt/β-catenin signaling is implicated in many physiological processes, including development, tissue homeostasis, and tissue regeneration. In human cancers, Wnt/β-catenin signaling is highly activated, which has led to the development of various Wnt signaling inhibitors for cancer therapies. Nonetheless, the blockade of Wnt signaling causes side effects such as impairment of tissue homeostasis and regeneration. Recently, several studies have identified cancer-specific Wnt signaling regulators. In this review, we discuss the Wnt inhibitors currently being used in clinical trials and suggest how additional cancer-specific regulators could be utilized to treat Wnt signaling-associated cancer. Introduction to target Wnt signaling for cancer therapies proposed Wnt signaling orchestrates various biological processes, from recent studies. 1234567890():,; 1234567890():,; 1234567890():,; 1234567890():,; such as cell proliferation, differentiation, organogenesis, – tissue regeneration, and tumorigenesis1 5. Classically, Wnt signaling and clinical trials in human cancers Wnt signaling is divided into β-catenin-dependent β-Catenin is a crucial signaling transducer in Wnt (canonical, Wnt/β-catenin pathway) and β-catenin-inde- signaling10,11.Theβ-catenin protein destruction com- pendent (noncanonical, Wnt/planar cell polarity [PCP] plex composed of adenomatous polyposis coli (APC), and calcium pathway) signaling6,7. Canonical Wnt sig- casein kinase 1 (CK1), glycogen synthase kinase 3α/β naling mainly regulates cell proliferation, and non- (GSK-3α/β), and AXIN1 tightly controls β-catenin via – canonical Wnt signaling controls cell polarity and phosphorylation-mediated proteolysis10,12 16. In this movement. However, this terminological distinction is section, we brieflydescribehowgeneticalterationsof unclear, and has been questions by studies proposing the Wnt signaling contribute to tumorigenesis and introduce involvement of both β-catenin-dependent and β-catenin- recent clinical trials that have aimed to inhibit Wnt independent Wnt signaling in tumorigenesis8. For signaling for cancer treatment. instance, APC and β-catenin are not only involved in cell proliferation but have also been linked to cell-to-cell The β-catenin destruction complex adhesion9. In this review, we will discuss an ongoing effort Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the representative of human to inhibit Wnt signaling and suggest potential approaches cancer caused by Wnt signaling hyperactivation17,18.CRC – displays a high mutation frequency in APC (~70%)19 21.In 1991, APC mutation was identified as the cause of heredi- Correspondence: Jae-Il Park ([email protected]) 1Department of Experimental Radiation Oncology, Division of Radiation tary colon cancer syndrome, also called familial adenoma- Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX tous polyposis22.APCformstheβ-catenin destruction 77030, USA 2 complex in association with CK1, AXIN1, and GSK-3 and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Texas MD 15,23,24 Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA interacts with β-catenin . This protein destruction Full list of author information is available at the end of the article. © The Author(s) 2020 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a linktotheCreativeCommons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Official journal of the Korean Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Jung and Park Experimental & Molecular Medicine (2020) 52:183–191 184 complex downregulates β-catenin through phosphorylation and the stabilization/accumulation of β-catenin. Then, – and ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation10,12 16. Genetic β-catenin undergoes nuclear translocation and transacti- mutations causing the loss of function of the destruction vates Wnt target genes57. The secretion of WNT ligands complex or gain of function of β-catenin lead to nuclear mainly depends on acylation by Porcupine (PORCN)58,59. translocation of β-catenin, resulting in T-cell factor (TCF)4/ PORCN is a membrane-bound O-acyltransferase that β-catenin-mediated transactivation of Wnt target genes25,26. mediates the palmitoylation of WNT ligands to induce The Vogelstein group established a multistep tumorigenesis their secretion. In line with this observation, PORCN model of CRC. APC mutation is an early event that initiates shows increased genetic alterations in various human CRC adenoma27. CRC progression also requires additional cancers, including esophageal, ovarian, uterine, lung, and genetic alterations in KRAS, PI3K, TGF-β, SMAD4,and cervical cancers60. TP5327. Moreover, epigenetic silencing of negative reg- ulators of Wnt signaling was also frequently found in the Mutations in CTNNB1/β-catenin absence of APC mutations28,29. APC is a multifunctional Unlike CRC, in which the APC gene is frequently protein. In addition to its role in β-catenin degradation, mutated, the CTNNB1 gene encoding β-catenin is pre- – APC binds to actin and actin-regulating proteins30 33, dominantly mutated in hepatocellular carcinoma, endo- – which controls the interaction between E-cadherin and α-/ metrial cancer, and pancreatic cancer61 63. The CTNNB1/ β-catenin and various physiological processes, including β-catenin gene harbors 16 exons. β-Catenin is mainly – migration and chromosomal fidelity34 38. Importantly, composed of three domains (N-terminal [~150 aa], recent studies revealed that APC mutation is insufficient to armadillo repeat [12 copies; 550 aa], and C-terminal fully activate Wnt signaling. Furthermore, even if APC is [~100 aa]). The N-terminal domain contains the phos- mutated, mutant APC still negatively regulates β-catenin to phorylation sites for GSK3 and CK112,14,45,46, which some extent39,40, which will be discussed later. induces β-TrcP-mediated β-catenin degradation. The C- AXIN1 is a multidomain scaffolding protein that forms terminal domain is involved in transactivation of Wnt – the β-catenin destruction complex in association with target genes via TCF/LEF interactions25,64 66. The arma- APC, CK1, and GSK310,41,42. In human cancer, AXIN1 dillo repeat domain interacts with various proteins, mutations are scattered throughout the whole coding including E-cadherin, APC, AXIN1, and PYGOs/Pygo- sequence of the AXIN1 gene43,44, which results in dis- pus67,68. In human cancer, the phosphorylation sites (Ser/ assembly of the β-catenin destruction complex. As a Thr) in the N-terminal domain of CTNNB1/β-catenin are priming kinase, CK1 initially phosphorylates β-catenin mutational hotspots14,69,70, demonstrating that escape (Ser45), which induces the sequential phosphorylation of from destruction complex-mediated β-catenin protein β-catenin by GSK3. Subsequently, phosphorylated degradation is a key process for Wnt signaling-induced β-catenin is recognized and degraded by E3 ubiquitin tumorigenesis. – ligase (β-TrCP)10,12 16. GSK3 is a serine/threonine kinase that phosphorylates three serine/threonine residues of Therapeutic targeting of Wnt/β-catenin signaling β-catenin (Ser33, Ser37, and Thr41)45,46. Since GSK3 does To suppress WNT ligands or receptors for cancer not bind to β-catenin directly, AXIN1 and APC facilitate treatment, PORCN inhibitors, WNT ligand antagonists, the interaction of GSK3 with β-catenin47,48. Moreover, and FZD antagonists/monoclonal antibodies have been unphosphorylated AXIN1 shows a low binding affinity to examined in clinical trials of various Wnt signaling- β-catenin, which is increased by phosphorylation of associated human cancers (Table 1 and Fig. 1). AXIN1 via GSK3 kinase activity49,50. Low-density lipo- protein receptor-related protein 5/6 (LRP5/6) coreceptor (i) PORCN inhibitors is also phosphorylated by CK1 and GSK3, leading to the WNT974 (LGK974; NIH clinical trial numbers [clin- – recruitment of AXIN1 to the membrane51 53. icaltrials.gov]: NCT02278133, NCT01351103, and NCT02649530), ETC-1922159 (ETC-159; NCT02521844), WNT ligands and receptors RXC004 (NCT03447470), and CGX1321 (NCT02675946 Under physiological conditions, Wnt signaling is acti- and NCT03507998) are orally administered PORCN inhi- vated by the binding of secreted WNT ligands to LRP5/6 bitors that commonly bind to PORCN in the endoplasmic – coreceptors and frizzled (FZD) receptors54, which induces reticulum71 74. Therefore, PORCN inhibitors block the the recruitment of the protein destruction complex to the secretion of WNT ligands through inhibition of post- LRP receptors and the subsequent phosphorylation of the translational acylation of
Recommended publications
  • Constitutive Scaffolding of Multiple Wnt Enhanceosome Components By
    RESEARCH ARTICLE Constitutive scaffolding of multiple Wnt enhanceosome components by Legless/ BCL9 Laurens M van Tienen, Juliusz Mieszczanek, Marc Fiedler, Trevor J Rutherford, Mariann Bienz* MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, United Kingdom Abstract Wnt/b-catenin signaling elicits context-dependent transcription switches that determine normal development and oncogenesis. These are mediated by the Wnt enhanceosome, a multiprotein complex binding to the Pygo chromatin reader and acting through TCF/LEF- responsive enhancers. Pygo renders this complex Wnt-responsive, by capturing b-catenin via the Legless/BCL9 adaptor. We used CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering of Drosophila legless (lgs) and human BCL9 and B9L to show that the C-terminus downstream of their adaptor elements is crucial for Wnt responses. BioID proximity labeling revealed that BCL9 and B9L, like PYGO2, are constitutive components of the Wnt enhanceosome. Wnt-dependent docking of b-catenin to the enhanceosome apparently causes a rearrangement that apposes the BCL9/B9L C-terminus to TCF. This C-terminus binds to the Groucho/TLE co-repressor, and also to the Chip/LDB1-SSDP enhanceosome core complex via an evolutionary conserved element. An unexpected link between BCL9/B9L, PYGO2 and nuclear co-receptor complexes suggests that these b-catenin co-factors may coordinate Wnt and nuclear hormone responses. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.20882.001 *For correspondence: mb2@mrc- Introduction lmb.cam.ac.uk The Wnt/b-catenin signaling cascade is an ancient cell communication pathway that operates con- Competing interests: The text-dependent transcriptional switches to control animal development and tissue homeostasis authors declare that no (Cadigan and Nusse, 1997).
    [Show full text]
  • AXIN1 Protein Full-Length Recombinant Human Protein Expressed in Sf9 Cells
    Catalog # Aliquot Size A71-30G-20 20 µg A71-30G-50 50 µg AXIN1 Protein Full-length recombinant human protein expressed in Sf9 cells Catalog # A71-30G Lot # E3330-6 Product Description Purity Full-length recombinant human AXIN1 was expressed by baculovirus in Sf9 insect cells using an N-terminal GST tag. This gene accession number is BC044648. The purity of AXIN1 protein was Gene Aliases determined to be >75% by densitometry. AXIN; MGC52315 Approx. MW 135 kDa. Formulation Recombinant protein stored in 50mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.5, 50mM NaCl, 10mM glutathione, 0.1mM EDTA, 0.25mM DTT, 0.1mM PMSF, 25% glycerol. Storage and Stability Store product at –70oC. For optimal storage, aliquot target into smaller quantities after centrifugation and store at recommended temperature. For most favorable performance, avoid repeated handling and multiple freeze/thaw cycles. Scientific Background AXIN 1 encodes a cytoplasmic protein which contains a regulation of G-protein signaling (RGS) domain and a dishevelled and axin (DIX) domain that interacts with adenomatosis polyposis coli, catenin beta-1, glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta, protein phosphate 2, and itself. AXIN1 has both positive and negative regulatory roles in Wnt-beta-catenin signaling. AXIN1 is a core component of a 'destruction complex' that promotes AXIN1 Protein phosphorylation and polyubiquitination of cytoplasmic beta- Full-length recombinant human protein expressed in Sf9 cells catenin, resulting in beta-catenin proteasomal degradation in the absence of Wnt signaling. Nuclear accumulation of AXIN1 can Catalog # A71-30G positively influence beta-catenin-mediated transcription during Lot # E3330-6 Wnt signalling and can induce apoptosis (1).
    [Show full text]
  • The Wnt Pathway Scaffold Protein Axin Promotes Signaling Specificity by Suppressing Competing Kinase Reactions
    bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/768242; this version posted September 13, 2019. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. The Wnt pathway scaffold protein Axin promotes signaling specificity by suppressing competing kinase reactions Maire Gavagan1,2, Erin Fagnan1,2, Elizabeth B. Speltz1, and Jesse G. Zalatan1,* 1Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA 2These authors contributed equally to this work *Correspondence: [email protected] 1 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/768242; this version posted September 13, 2019. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. Abstract GSK3β is a multifunctional kinase that phosphorylates β-catenin in the Wnt signaling network and also acts on other protein targets in response to distinct cellular signals. To test the long-standing hypothesis that the scaffold protein Axin specifically accelerates β-catenin phosphorylation, we measured GSK3β reaction rates with multiple substrates in a minimal, biochemically-reconstituted system. We observed an unexpectedly small, ~2-fold Axin-mediated rate increase for the β-catenin reaction. The much larger effects reported previously may have arisen because Axin can rescue GSK3β from an inactive state that occurs only under highly specific conditions.
    [Show full text]
  • Conservation of Topology, but Not Conformation, of the Proteolipid Proteins of the Myelin Sheath
    The Journal of Neuroscience, January 1, 1997, 17(1):181–189 Conservation of Topology, But Not Conformation, of the Proteolipid Proteins of the Myelin Sheath Alexander Gow,1 Alexander Gragerov,1 Anthony Gard,2 David R. Colman,1 and Robert A. Lazzarini1 1Brookdale Center for Molecular Biology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029-6574, and 2Department of Structural and Cell Biology, University of South Alabama College of Medicine, Mobile, Alabama 36688 The proteolipid protein gene products DM-20 and PLP are during de novo synthesis. Surprisingly, the conformation (as adhesive intrinsic membrane proteins that make up $50% of opposed to topology) of DM-20 and PLP may differ, which has the protein in myelin and serve to stabilize compact myelin been inferred from the divergent effects that many missense sheaths at the extracellular surfaces of apposed membrane mutations have on the intracellular trafficking of these two lamellae. To identify which domains of DM-20 and PLP are isoforms. The 35 amino acid cytoplasmic peptide in PLP, which positioned topologically in the extracellular space to participate distinguishes this protein from DM-20, imparts a sensitivity to in adhesion, we engineered N-glycosylation consensus sites mutations in extracellular domains. This peptide may normally into the hydrophilic segments and determined the extent of function during myelinogenesis to detect conformational glycosylation. In addition, we assessed the presence of two changes originating across the bilayer from extracellular PLP translocation stop-transfer signals and, finally, mapped the interactions in trans and trigger intracellular events such as extracellular and cytoplasmic dispositions of four antibody membrane compaction in the cytoplasmic compartment.
    [Show full text]
  • In Silico Perspectives on the Prediction of the PLP’S Epitopes Involved in Multiple Sclerosis
    Iranian J Biotech. 2017 January;15(1):e1356 DOI: 10.15171/ijb.1356 Research Article In Silico Perspectives on the Prediction of the PLP’s Epitopes involved in Multiple Sclerosis Zahra Zamanzadeh1, Mitra Ataei1, Seyed Massood Nabavi2, Ghasem Ahangari1, Mehdi Sadeghi1, Mohammad Hosein Sanati1,* 1 Department of medical biotechnology. Institute of Medical Genetic, National Institute of Genetics Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), Tehran, 14965/161 Iran 2 Department of Neurology, Faculty of Public Health, Shahed University, Tehran, 18155/159, Iran *Corresponding author: Department of Medical Genetic, National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), Shahrak-e- Pajoohesh, 15th Km, Tehran-Karaj Highway, Tehran, 14965-161, Iran. Tel.: +98 21 44780365; Fax: +98 21 44780395; E-mail: [email protected] Received: 15 Sep. 2015 Revised: 29 May 2016 Accepted: 13 March 2017 Published online: 31 May 2017 Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS). The main cause of the MS is yet to be revealed, but the most probable theory is based on the molecular mimicry that concludes some infections in the activation of T cells against brain auto-antigens that initiate the disease cascade. Objectives: The Purpose of this research is the prediction of the auto-antigen potency of the myelin proteolipid protein (PLP) in multiple sclerosis. Materials and Methods: As there wasn’t any tertiary structure of PLP available in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) and in order to characterize the structural properties of the protein, we modeled this protein using prediction servers. Meta prediction method, as a new perspective in silico, was performed to fi nd PLPs epitopes.
    [Show full text]
  • Nucleo-Cytoplasmic Distribution of ß-Catenin Is Regulated by Retention
    Research Article 1453 Nucleo-cytoplasmic distribution of ␤-catenin is regulated by retention Eva Krieghoff, Jürgen Behrens* and Bernhard Mayr Nikolaus-Fiebiger-Center for Molecular Medicine, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Glückstr. 6, 91054 Erlangen, Germany *Author for correspondence (e-mail: [email protected]) Accepted 19 December 2005 Journal of Cell Science 119, 1453-1463 Published by The Company of Biologists 2006 doi:10.1242/jcs.02864 Summary ␤-catenin is the central signalling molecule of the canonical of ␤-catenin, i.e. increases the rate of ␤-catenin nuclear Wnt pathway, where it activates target genes in a complex import or export. Moreover, the cytoplasmic enrichment of with LEF/TCF transcription factors in the nucleus. The ␤-catenin by APC and axin is not abolished by inhibition regulation of ␤-catenin activity is thought to occur mainly of CRM-1-dependent nuclear export. TCF4, APC, axin and on the level of protein degradation, but it has been axin2 move more slowly than ␤-catenin in their respective suggested that ␤-catenin nuclear localization and hence its compartment, and concomitantly decrease ␤-catenin transcriptional activity may additionally be regulated via mobility. Together, these data indicate that ␤-catenin nuclear import by TCF4 and BCL9 and via nuclear export interaction partners mainly regulate ␤-catenin subcellular by APC and axin. Using live-cell microscopy and localization by retaining it in the compartment in which fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP), we they are localized, rather than by active transport into or have directly analysed the impact of these factors on the out of the nucleus. subcellular localization of ␤-catenin, its nucleo-cytoplasmic shuttling and its mobility within the nucleus and the Supplementary material available online at cytoplasm.
    [Show full text]
  • Multi-Modal Meta-Analysis of 1494 Hepatocellular Carcinoma Samples Reveals
    Author Manuscript Published OnlineFirst on September 21, 2018; DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-18-0088 Author manuscripts have been peer reviewed and accepted for publication but have not yet been edited. Multi-modal meta-analysis of 1494 hepatocellular carcinoma samples reveals significant impact of consensus driver genes on phenotypes Kumardeep Chaudhary1, Olivier B Poirion1, Liangqun Lu1,2, Sijia Huang1,2, Travers Ching1,2, Lana X Garmire1,2,3* 1Epidemiology Program, University of Hawaii Cancer Center, Honolulu, HI 96813, USA 2Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering Graduate Program, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA 3Current affiliation: Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, Building 520, 1600 Huron Parkway, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Short Title: Impact of consensus driver genes in hepatocellular carcinoma * To whom correspondence should be addressed. Lana X. Garmire, Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics Medical School, University of Michigan Building 520, 1600 Huron Parkway Ann Arbor-48109, MI, USA, Phone: +1-(734) 615-5510 Current email address: [email protected] Grant Support: This research was supported by grants K01ES025434 awarded by NIEHS through funds provided by the trans-NIH Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) initiative (http://datascience.nih.gov/bd2k), P20 COBRE GM103457 awarded by NIH/NIGMS, NICHD R01 HD084633 and NLM R01LM012373 and Hawaii Community Foundation Medical Research Grant 14ADVC-64566 to Lana X Garmire. 1 Downloaded from clincancerres.aacrjournals.org on October 1, 2021. © 2018 American Association for Cancer Research. Author Manuscript Published OnlineFirst on September 21, 2018; DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-18-0088 Author manuscripts have been peer reviewed and accepted for publication but have not yet been edited.
    [Show full text]
  • Dual Regulation of Planar Polarization by Secreted Wnts and Vangl2 in the Developing Mouse Cochlea Elvis Huarcaya Najarro1, Jennifer Huang1, Adrian Jacobo2, Lee A
    © 2020. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd | Development (2020) 147, dev191981. doi:10.1242/dev.191981 RESEARCH ARTICLE Dual regulation of planar polarization by secreted Wnts and Vangl2 in the developing mouse cochlea Elvis Huarcaya Najarro1, Jennifer Huang1, Adrian Jacobo2, Lee A. Quiruz1, Nicolas Grillet1 and Alan G. Cheng1,* ABSTRACT on the other. Flamingo (Fmi/Celsr1, Fmi/Celsr2 and Fmi/Celsr3) is Planar cell polarity (PCP) proteins localize asymmetrically to instruct present on both poles of the cell. Defective PCP signaling cell polarity within the tissue plane, with defects leading to deformities represented by a lack of polarized PCP components leads to of the limbs, neural tube and inner ear. Wnt proteins are evolutionarily congenital heart and tracheal abnormalities, skeletal dysplasia, conserved polarity cues, yet Wnt mutants display variable PCP neural tube defects as well as cochlear deformities (Butler and defects; thus, how Wnts regulate PCP remains unresolved. Here, we Wallingford, 2017; White et al., 2018). Despite their crucial roles, have used the developing cochlea as a model system to show that our understanding of upstream signals orchestrating PCP signaling secreted Wnts regulate PCP through polarizing a specific subset of is rather limited. PCP proteins. Conditional deletion of Wntless or porcupine, both of Wnt proteins have been implicated as upstream polarity cues for which are essential for secretion of Wnts, caused misrotated sensory PCP signaling. For example, limb morphogenesis in mice requires a cells and shortened cochlea – both hallmarks of PCP defects. gradient of Wnt5a, which has been reported to act as an instructive Wntless-deficient cochleae lacked the polarized PCP components cue to establish PCP (Gao et al., 2018, 2011).
    [Show full text]
  • BCL9 Provides Multi-Cellular Communication Properties in Colorectal Cancer by Interacting with Paraspeckle Proteins
    ARTICLE https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-13842-7 OPEN BCL9 provides multi-cellular communication properties in colorectal cancer by interacting with paraspeckle proteins Meng Jiang 1,2,8, Yue Kang1,3,8, Tomasz Sewastianik1,4, Jiao Wang1,5, Helen Tanton1, Keith Alder1, Peter Dennis1, Yu Xin1, Zhongqiu Wang1,6, Ruiyang Liu1, Mengyun Zhang1, Ying Huang1, Massimo Loda1, Amitabh Srivastava7, Runsheng Chen3, Ming Liu2 & Ruben D. Carrasco1,7* 1234567890():,; Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer, which despite recent advances in treatment, remains incurable due to molecular heterogeneity of tumor cells. The B-cell lymphoma 9 (BCL9) oncogene functions as a transcriptional co-activator of the Wnt/ β-catenin pathway, which plays critical roles in CRC pathogenesis. Here we have identified a β-catenin-independent function of BCL9 in a poor-prognosis subtype of CRC tumors char- acterized by expression of stromal and neural associated genes. In response to spontaneous calcium transients or cellular stress, BCL9 is recruited adjacent to the interchromosomal regions, where it stabilizes the mRNA of calcium signaling and neural associated genes by interacting with paraspeckle proteins. BCL9 subsequently promotes tumor progression and remodeling of the tumor microenvironment (TME) by sustaining the calcium transients and neurotransmitter-dependent communication among CRC cells. These data provide additional insights into the role of BCL9 in tumor pathogenesis and point towards additional avenues for therapeutic intervention. 1 Department of Oncologic Pathology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. 2 Department of General Surgery, Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150001, China.
    [Show full text]
  • TBX3 Acts As Tissue-Specific Component of the Wnt/Β
    bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.22.053561; this version posted April 22, 2020. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC 4.0 International license. TBX3 acts as tissue-specific component of the Wnt/b-catenin enhanceosome Dario Zimmerli1,6#, Costanza Borrelli2#, Amaia Jauregi-Miguel3,4#, Simon Söderholm3,4, Salome Brütsch1, Nikolaos Doumpas1, Jan Reichmuth1, Fabienne Murphy-Seiler5, Michel Aguet5, Konrad Basler1*, Andreas E. Moor2*, Claudio Cantù3,4* 1 Department of Molecular Life Sciences, University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland, CH-8057 2 Institute of Molecular Cancer Research, University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland, CH-8057 3 Wallenberg Centre for Molecular Medicine, Linköping University 4 Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Health Science, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden 5Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), School of Life Sciences, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland 6 Current address: Division of Molecular Pathology, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands # These authors contributed equally to this work * For correspondence: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 1 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.22.053561; this version posted April 22, 2020. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC 4.0 International license.
    [Show full text]
  • The Role of Genetics Mutations in Genes PORCN, TWIST2, HCCS In
    ISSN: 2378-3672 Asadi and Jamali. Int J Immunol Immunother 2019, 6:038 DOI: 10.23937/2378-3672/1410038 Volume 6 | Issue 1 International Journal of Open Access Immunology and Immunotherapy REVIEW ARTICLE The Role of Genetics Mutations in Genes PORCN, TWIST2, HCCS in Goltz Syndrome Shahin Asadi1* and Mahsa Jamali2 Check for updates Division of Medical Genetics and Molecular Pathology Research, Molecular Genetics-IRAN-TABRIZ, Iran *Corresponding author: Shahin Asadi, Division of Medical Genetics and Molecular Pathology Research, Molecular Genetics-IRAN-TABRIZ, Iran are usually formed around the nose, the lips, the anal Abstract holes and the genitals of women with Goltz syndrome. Goltz syndrome (focal skin hypoplasia) is a genetic disorder In addition, papillomas may be present in the throat, that primarily affects the skin, skeletal system, eyes and face. People with Goltz syndrome have birth defects. These especially in the esophagus or larynx, and can cause disorders include very thin skin veins (skin hypoplasia), pink swallowing, respiration or sleep poisoning. The papillo- yellow nodules, subcutaneous fat, lack of upper skin layers mas can be removed if necessary by surgery from the (aplasia cutis), small clusters of superficial skin vessels growing regions. People with Goltz syndrome may have (telangiectasia), and veins in dark skin Or bright. Goltz syndrome is caused by mutation genes PORCN, TWIST2, small and abnormal nails on the toes. In addition, hair in HCCS. the scalp of these people can be weak or fragile or not [2] (Figure 2). Keywords Goltz syndrome, PORCN, TWIST2, HCCS genes, Skin and Many people with Goltz syndrome also have hand Skeletal disorders and foot disorders, including abnormalities such as oligodactyly in fingers and toes, fingers and legs (cin- Generalizations of Goltz Syndrome dactyly) or ecd rhodactyly.
    [Show full text]
  • Inhibition of Nuclear Wnt Signaling: Challenges of an Elusive Target for Cancer Therapy
    1 Inhibition of Nuclear Wnt Signaling: Challenges of an Elusive Target for Cancer Therapy Yung Lyou1*, Amber N. Habowski2, George T. Chen2, Marian L. Waterman2*. 1University of California Irvine Medical Center, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology Oncology, 101 The City Drive South, Orange, CA, USA, 92868; 2University of California Irvine, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Irvine, CA, USA, 92697. *Co-corresponding authors 2 Abstract The highly conserved Wnt signaling pathway plays an important role in embryonic development and disease pathogenesis, most notably cancer. The “canonical,” or - catenin-dependent Wnt signal initiates at the cell plasma membrane with the binding of Wnt proteins to Frizzled:LRP5/LRP6 receptor complexes, and is mediated by the translocation of the transcription co-activator protein, -catenin, into the nucleus. -catenin then forms a complex with TCF/LEF transcription factors to regulate multiple gene programs. These programs play roles in cell proliferation, migration, vasculogenesis, survival, and metabolism. Mutations in Wnt signaling pathway components that lead to constitutively active Wnt signaling drive aberrant expression of these programs and development of cancer. It has been a longstanding and challenging goal to develop therapies that can interfere with the TCF/LEF--catenin transcriptional complex. This review will focus on the i) structural considerations for targeting the TCF/LEF--catenin and co-regulatory complexes in the nucleus, ii) current molecules that directly target
    [Show full text]