Kazuaki Takaku

TL;DR: Experimental genetic evidence is presented that activation of the Wnt signaling pathway can cause intestinal and colonic tumors.

TL;DR: The authors showed that mutations in the DPC4 (SMAD4) gene play a significant role in the malignant progression of colorectal tumors in mice. But, their experiments were performed on Apc Δ 716 knockout mice, a model for human familial adenomatous polyposis.

TL;DR: It is shown that homozygous deletion of the gene encoding a cell-surface receptor of PGE2, EP2, causes decreases in number and size of intestinal polyps in ApcΔ716 mice (a mouse model for human familial adenomatous polyposis), and that increased cellular cAMP stimulates expression of more COX-2 and vascular endothelial growth factor in the polyp stroma.

TL;DR: regulation of ho‐1 involves a direct sensing of heme levels by Bach1 (by analogy to lac repressor sensitivity to lactose), generating a simple feedback loop whereby the substrate effects repressor–activator antagonism.

TL;DR: The phenotype of mice carrying a targeted disruption of the thioredoxin gene (Txn) is described and results indicate that Txn expression is essential for early differentiation and morphogenesis of the mouse embryo.