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Query: UMLS:C0033036 (APC)
 10,214 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The Wnt/Wingless signaling transduction pathway plays an important role in both embryonic development and tumorigenesis. beta-Catenin, a key component of the Wnt signaling pathway, interacts with the TCF/LEF family of transcription factors and activates transcription of Wnt target genes. Recent studies have revealed that a number of proteins such as, the tumor suppressor APC and Axin are involved in the regulation of the Wnt signaling pathway. Furthermore, mutations in APC or beta-catenin have been found to be responsible for the genesis of human cancers.
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PMID:Wnt/beta-catenin signaling. 1095 75

Interactions between beta-catenin and LEF-1/TCF, APC and conductin/axin are essential for wnt-controlled stabilization of beta-catenin and transcriptional activation. The wnt signal transduction pathway is important in both embryonic development and tumor progression. We identify here amino acid residues in beta-catenin that distinctly affect its binding to LEF-1/TCF, APC and conductin. These residues form separate surface clusters, termed hot spots, along the armadillo superhelix of beta-catenin. We also show that complementary charged and hydrophobic amino acids are required for formation of the bipartite beta-catenin-LEF-1 transcription factor. Moreover, we demonstrate that conductin/axin binding to beta-catenin is essential for beta-catenin degradation, and that APC acts as a cofactor of conductin/axin in this process. Binding of APC to conductin/axin activates the latter and occurs between their SAMP and RGS domains, respectively.
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PMID:Hot spots in beta-catenin for interactions with LEF-1, conductin and APC. 1096 53

Wnt regulates developmental and oncogenic processes through its downstream effector, beta-catenin, and a set of other intracellular regulators that are largely conserved among species. Wnt family genes encode secreted glycoproteins that act as ligands for membrane receptors belonging to the Frizzled family of proteins. Wnt-1 originally was found as a proto-oncogene that was upregulated in tumors caused by the mouse mammary tumor virus. The Drosophila homologue of Wnt-1, wingless, is a segment polarity gene that regulates body patterning of the fly embryo. In Xenopus, the Wnt pathway regulates formation of the ventral-dorsal axis. Although Wnt proteins are expressed widely in mammals, the function of the Wnt signaling pathway in normal adult mammalian tissues is not understood. Downstream components of the Wnt pathway, APC (adenomatous polyposis coli) and beta-catenin, clearly are involved in human cancer. There are also several reports that Wnt ligands are highly expressed in tumors. Wnt stabilizes cytoplasmic beta-catenin and activates beta-catenin/Lef-1 (lymphoid enhancer factor), Tcf (T-cell factor)-dependent gene transcription. This regulation of cytosolic beta-catenin is mediated by glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) activity but in neither case is the mechanism known. The mechanism by which Wnt inhibits GSK-3 is unknown. Recent studies have shown that some of the intracellular signaling molecules that mediate the Wnt pathway are in complexes, including Dishevelled (Dsh or Dvl), GSK-3beta, and APC protein. However, little is known about how Wnt or other upstream stimuli regulate these complexes to stabilize beta-catenin. We took a variety of approaches to identify new components of the Wnt pathway. Using an expression-cloning technique, we isolated casein kinase I (CKI)epsilon as a positive regulator of beta-catenin in the Wnt pathway. Overexpression of CKIepsilon mimics Wnt by stabilizing beta-catenin, thereby increasing expression of beta-catenin-dependent genes. Inhibition of endogenous CKIepsilon attenuated gene transcription stimulated by Wnt or by Dsh. CKIepsilon forms a complex with Axin and the other downstream components of the Wnt pathway. CKIepsilon is a positive regulator of the Wnt pathway and a possible functional link between upstream signals and the intracellular Axin signaling complex that regulates beta-catenin. In separate experiments, we have identified a Dishevelled-associated kinase (DAK) that binds to Dsh and regulates its functions. Dsh is required for two different pathways, the Wnt pathway and planar polarity pathway in Drosophila. DAK dramatically enhances the function of Dsh in the Wnt pathway and inhibits its function in the planar polarity pathway. This chapter will discuss these newly identified components of the Wnt pathway.
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PMID:New steps in the Wnt/beta-catenin signal transduction pathway. 1103 39

Glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3), an element of the Wnt signalling pathway, plays a key role in numerous cellular processes including cell proliferation, embryonic development, and neuronal functions. It is directly involved in diseases such as cancer (by controlling apoptosis and the levels of beta-catenin and cyclin D1), Alzheimer's disease (tau hyperphosphorylation), and diabetes (as a downstream element of insulin action, GSK-3 regulates glycogen and lipid synthesis). We describe here a rapid and efficient method for the purification of GSK-3 by affinity chromatography on an immobilized fragment of axin. Axin is a docking protein which interacts with GSK-3ss, beta-catenin, phosphatase 2A, and APC. A polyhistidine-tagged axin peptide (residues 419-672) was produced in Escherichia coli and either immobilized on Ni-NTA agarose beads or purified and immobilized on CNBr-activated Sepharose 4B. These "Axin-His6" matrices were found to selectively bind recombinant rat GSK-3 beta and native GSK-3 from yeast, sea urchin embryos, and porcine brain. The affinity-purified enzymes displayed high kinase activity. This single step purification method provides a convenient tool to follow the status of GSK-3 (protein level, phosphorylation state, kinase activity) under various physiological settings. It also provides a simple and efficient way to purify large amounts of active recombinant or native GSK-3 for screening purposes.
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PMID:Purification of GSK-3 by affinity chromatography on immobilized axin. 1108 79

The Wnt signaling pathway plays critical roles in embryonic development and tumorigenesis. Stimulation of the Wnt pathway results in the accumulation of a nuclear beta-catenin/Tcf complex, activating Wnt target genes. A crystal structure of beta-catenin bound to the beta-catenin binding domain of Tcf3 (Tcf3-CBD) has been determined. The Tcf3-CBD forms an elongated structure with three binding modules that runs antiparallel to beta-catenin along the positively charged groove formed by the armadillo repeats. Structure-based mutagenesis defines three sites in beta-catenin that are critical for binding the Tcf3-CBD and are differentially involved in binding APC, cadherin, and Axin. The structural and mutagenesis data reveal a potential target for molecular drug design studies.
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PMID:Crystal structure of a beta-catenin/Tcf complex. 1113 74

The effect of HGF/SF was examined on the interactions between APC, GSK3beta and beta-catenin in prostate cancer cells LNCapFGC (E-cadherin positive) and PC-3 (E-cadherin negative). Using immunoprecipitation, APC was found to be co-precipitated with either GSK3beta or beta-catenin in both cell lines. Stimulation with HGF/SF showed no change in the co-precipitation status of these protein molecules. In contrast, co-precipitation between GSK3beta and beta-catenin was only observed in LNCapFGC cells, and increased upon continued exposure to the motogen HGF/SF. Furthermore, using immunofluorescence, stimulation with HGF/SF was found to increase the level of co-localised cytoplasmic staining between beta-catenin and GSK3beta, in prostate cancer cells. RT-PCR revealed that there were no mutations within the binding regions between beta-catenin and GSK3beta. It is concluded, that uncomplexed cytoplasmic pools of beta-catenin associate more readily with the Axin complex in the absence of E-cadherin. Whereas, in the presence of E-cadherin, beta-catenin is stabilised by forming tight cell-cell contacts which may influence the invasive potential of cancer cells.
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PMID:The interaction between beta-catenin, GSK3beta and APC after motogen induced cell-cell dissociation, and their involvement in signal transduction pathways in prostate cancer. 1125 Nov 83

In certain cancers, constitutive Wnt signaling results from mutation in one or more pathway components. The result is the accumulation and nuclear localization of beta-catenin, which interacts with the lymphoid enhancer factor-1 (LEF)/T-cell factor (TCF) family of HMG-box transcription factors, which activate important growth regulatory genes, including cyclin D1 and c-myc. As exemplified by APC and axin, the negative regulation of beta-catenin is important for tumor suppression. Another potential mode of negative regulation is transcriptional repression of cyclin D1 and other Wnt target genes. In mammals, the transcriptional repressors in the Wnt pathway are not well defined. We have previously identified HBP1 as an HMG-box repressor and a cell cycle inhibitor. Here, we show that HBP1 is a repressor of the cyclin D1 gene and inhibits the Wnt signaling pathway. The inhibition of Wnt signaling and growth requires a common domain of HBP1. The apparent mechanism is an inhibition of TCF/LEF DNA binding through a physical interaction with HBP1. These data suggest that the suppression of Wnt signaling by HBP1 may be a mechanism to prevent inappropriate proliferation.
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PMID:Negative regulation of the Wnt-beta-catenin pathway by the transcriptional repressor HBP1. 1150 Mar 77

masterblind (mbl) is a zebrafish mutation characterised by the absence or reduction in size of the telencephalon, optic vesicles and olfactory placodes. We show that inhibition of Gsk3beta in zebrafish embryos either by overexpression of dominant negative dn gsk3beta mRNA or by lithium treatment after the midblastula transition phenocopies mbl. The loss of anterior neural tissue in mbl and lithium-treated embryos is preceded by posteriorization of presumptive anterior neuroectoderm during gastrulation, which is evident from the anterior shift of marker genes Otx2 and Wnt1. Heterozygous mbl embryos showed increased sensitivity to inhibition of GSK3beta by lithium or dn Xgsk3beta that led to the loss of eyes. Overexpression of gsk3beta mRNA rescued eyes and the wild-type fgf8 expression of homozygous mbl embryos. emx1 that delineates the telencephalon is expanded and shifted ventroanteriorly in mbl embryos. In contrast to fgf8, the emx1 expression domain was not restored upon overexpression of gsk3beta mRNA. These experiments place mbl as an antagonist of the Wnt pathway in parallel or upstream of the complex consisting of Axin, APC and Gsk3beta that binds and phosphorylates beta-catenin, thereby destabilising it. mbl maps on LG 3 close to a candidate gene axin1. In mbl we detected a point mutation in the conserved minimal Gsk3beta-binding domain of axin1 leading to a leucine to glutamine substitution at position 399. Overexpression of wild-type axin1 mRNA rescued mbl completely, demonstrating that mutant axin1 is responsible for the mutant phenotype. Overexpression of mutant L399Q axin1 in wild-type embryos resulted in a dose-dependent dominant negative activity as demonstrated by the loss of telencephalon and eyes. We suggest that the function of Axin1/Mbl protein is to antagonise the Wnt signal and in doing so to establish and maintain the most anterior CNS. Our findings provide new insights into the mechanisms by which the Wnt pathway generates anteroposterior polarity of the neural plate.
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PMID:Ectopic Wnt signal determines the eyeless phenotype of zebrafish masterblind mutant. 1164 Dec 13

Activation of Wnt signaling through beta-catenin/TCF complexes is a key event in the development of various tumors, in particular colorectal and liver tumors. Wnt signaling is controlled by the negative regulator conductin/axin2/axil, which induces degradation of beta-catenin by functional interaction with the tumor suppressor APC and the serine/threonine kinase GSK3beta. Here we show that conductin is upregulated in human tumors that are induced by beta-catenin/Wnt signaling, i.e., high levels of conductin protein and mRNA were found in colorectal and liver tumors but not in the corresponding normal tissues. In various other tumor types, conductin levels did not differ between tumor and normal tissue. Upregulation of conductin was also observed in the APC-deficient intestinal tumors of Min mice. Inhibition of Wnt signaling by a dominant-negative mutant of TCF downregulated conductin but not the related protein, axin, in DLD1 colorectal tumor cells. Conversely, activation of Wnt signaling by Wnt-1 or dishevelled increased conductin levels in MDA MB 231 and Neuro2A cells, respectively. In time course experiments, stabilization of beta-catenin preceded the upregulation of conductin by Wnt-1. These results demonstrate that conductin is a target of the Wnt signaling pathway. Upregulation of conductin may constitute a negative feedback loop that controls Wnt signaling activity.
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PMID:Negative feedback loop of Wnt signaling through upregulation of conductin/axin2 in colorectal and liver tumors. 1180 9

The wnt pathway plays an important role in embryonal patterning and cell fate determination, involving stabilization of nuclear and cytoplasmic beta-catenin (CTNNB1) mediated by APC, axin, and other proteins. Uncomplexed beta-catenin binds to TCF/LEF transcription factors and activates the expression of growth regulatory target genes such as c-myc or cyclin D1. In colorectal and other cancers, constitutive wnt signaling results frequently from mutations in one or more pathway components, e.g. APC and beta-catenin, resulting in nuclear and/or cytoplasmic accumulation of beta-catenin. In the present study, the most frequent alterations in the CTNNB1 and APC genes were investigated in primary urothelial bladder tumors and cell lines. Snap-frozen bladder tumors (n=99) of different stages and grades and 4 cell lines (RT4, RT112, J82, UROtsa) were investigated for APC allelic deletions by loss of heterozygosity (LOH) analysis. The most frequent mutated regions of CTNNB1 (degradation box in the third exon) and APC (mutation cluster region) were directly sequenced. Beta-catenin expression was analyzed by immunofluorescence in the cell lines. LOH at the APC gene locus on chromosome 5q21 was found in 7 of 72 (10%) of the informative cases. No mutations were found in either CTNNB1 or APC. A previously described polymorphism at codon 1493 of the APC gene was detected in 8 tumors and 3 cell lines. All cell lines showed normal membranous beta-catenin staining without evidence for nuclear or cytoplasmic accumulation. Alteration of APC and beta-catenin, which are the most frequent wnt pathway alterations in many tumor types, are rare events in urothelial carcinomas. Other wnt pathway members, such as axin, may play an important role in urothelial carcinogenesis.
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PMID:No evidence for involvement of beta-catenin and APC in urothelial carcinomas. 1195 82


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