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Journal ArticleDOI

Convergence of Wnt, ß-Catenin, and Cadherin Pathways

05 Mar 2004-Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science)-Vol. 303, Iss: 5663, pp 1483-1487
TL;DR: Evidence is assembled of possible interrelations between Wnt and other growth factor signaling, β-catenin functions, and cadherin-mediated adhesion in tissue differentiation.
Abstract: The specification and proper arrangements of new cell types during tissue differentiation require the coordinated regulation of gene expression and precise interactions between neighboring cells. Of the many growth factors involved in these events, Wnts are particularly interesting regulators, because a key component of their signaling pathway, β-catenin, also functions as a component of the cadherin complex, which controls cell-cell adhesion and influences cell migration. Here, we assemble evidence of possible interrelations between Wnt and other growth factor signaling, β-catenin functions, and cadherin-mediated adhesion.

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Citations
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28 Jul 2005
TL;DR: PfPMP1)与感染红细胞、树突状组胞以及胎盘的单个或多个受体作用,在黏附及免疫逃避中起关键的作�ly.
Abstract: 抗原变异可使得多种致病微生物易于逃避宿主免疫应答。表达在感染红细胞表面的恶性疟原虫红细胞表面蛋白1(PfPMP1)与感染红细胞、内皮细胞、树突状细胞以及胎盘的单个或多个受体作用,在黏附及免疫逃避中起关键的作用。每个单倍体基因组var基因家族编码约60种成员,通过启动转录不同的var基因变异体为抗原变异提供了分子基础。

18,940 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The data reveal that multiple extracellular, cytoplasmic, and nuclear regulators intricately modulate Wnt signaling levels, and that receptor-ligand specificity and feedback loops help to determine WNT signaling outputs.
Abstract: Tight control of cell-cell communication is essential for the generation of a normally patterned embryo. A critical mediator of key cell-cell signaling events during embryogenesis is the highly conserved Wnt family of secreted proteins. Recent biochemical and genetic analyses have greatly enriched our understanding of how Wnts signal, and the list of canonical Wnt signaling components has exploded. The data reveal that multiple extracellular, cytoplasmic, and nuclear regulators intricately modulate Wnt signaling levels. In addition, receptor-ligand specificity and feedback loops help to determine Wnt signaling outputs. Wnts are required for adult tissue maintenance, and perturbations in Wnt signaling promote both human degenerative diseases and cancer. The next few years are likely to see novel therapeutic reagents aimed at controlling Wnt signaling in order to alleviate these conditions.

5,129 citations


Cites methods from "Convergence of Wnt, ß-Catenin, and ..."

  • ...For a discussion of current data that examines connections between cell adhesion and Wnt signaling, we direct the reader to Nelson & Nusse (2004)....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The induction of EMT in response to TGF-β is discussed, and the underlying signaling and transcription mechanisms are focused on.
Abstract: During development and in the context of different morphogenetic events, epithelial cells undergo a process called epithelial to mesenchymal transition or transdifferentiation (EMT). In this process, the cells lose their epithelial characteristics, including their polarity and specialized cell-cell contacts, and acquire a migratory behavior, allowing them to move away from their epithelial cell community and to integrate into surrounding tissue, even at remote locations. EMT illustrates the differentiation plasticity during development and is complemented by another process, called mesenchymal to epithelial transition (MET). While being an integral process during development, EMT is also recapitulated under pathological conditions, prominently in fibrosis and in invasion and metastasis of carcinomas. Accordingly, EMT is considered as an important step in tumor progression. TGF-β signaling has been shown to play an important role in EMT. In fact, adding TGF-β to epithelial cells in culture is a convenient way to induce EMT in various epithelial cells. Although much less characterized, epithelial plasticity can also be regulated by TGF-β-related bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), and BMPs have been shown to induce EMT or MET depending on the developmental context. In this review, we will discuss the induction of EMT in response to TGF-β, and focus on the underlying signaling and transcription mechanisms.

2,244 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A microsatellite within intron 3 of the transcription factor 7–like 2 gene (TCF7L2; formerly TCF4) was associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus and is thought to act through regulation of proglucagon gene expression in enteroendocrine cells via the Wnt signaling pathway.
Abstract: We have previously reported suggestive linkage of type 2 diabetes mellitus to chromosome 10q. We genotyped 228 microsatellite markers in Icelandic individuals with type 2 diabetes and controls throughout a 10.5-Mb interval on 10q. A microsatellite, DG10S478, within intron 3 of the transcription factor 7-like 2 gene (TCF7L2; formerly TCF4) was associated with type 2 diabetes (P = 2.1 x 10(-9)). This was replicated in a Danish cohort (P = 4.8 x 10(-3)) and in a US cohort (P = 3.3 x 10(-9)). Compared with non-carriers, heterozygous and homozygous carriers of the at-risk alleles (38% and 7% of the population, respectively) have relative risks of 1.45 and 2.41. This corresponds to a population attributable risk of 21%. The TCF7L2 gene product is a high mobility group box-containing transcription factor previously implicated in blood glucose homeostasis. It is thought to act through regulation of proglucagon gene expression in enteroendocrine cells via the Wnt signaling pathway.

2,150 citations


Cites background from "Convergence of Wnt, ß-Catenin, and ..."

  • ...The β-catenin protein is also important for mediating cell adhesion through its binding of cadherin...

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This work highlights a key role for interactions between hyaluronan and tumour cells in several aspects of malignancy and indicates the possibility of new therapeutic strategies.
Abstract: Hyaluronan is an extracellular and cell-surface-associated polysaccharide that is traditionally regarded as a biological 'goo' that participates in lubricating joints or holding together gel-like connective tissues. Although these are common physiological roles of hyaluronan in adult organisms, hyaluronan also functions as a microenvironmental cue that co-regulates cell behaviour during embryonic development, healing processes, inflammation and tumour development. Recent work highlights a key role for interactions between hyaluronan and tumour cells in several aspects of malignancy and indicates the possibility of new therapeutic strategies.

1,910 citations


Cites background from "Convergence of Wnt, ß-Catenin, and ..."

  • ...In addition, cooperativity between the WNT signalling pathway and the dispersal of adherens junctions leads to the accumulation of β-catenin in a complex with the transcription factor TCF4/LEF and to the activation of genes that are involved in EM...

    [...]

References
More filters
28 Jul 2005
TL;DR: PfPMP1)与感染红细胞、树突状组胞以及胎盘的单个或多个受体作用,在黏附及免疫逃避中起关键的作�ly.
Abstract: 抗原变异可使得多种致病微生物易于逃避宿主免疫应答。表达在感染红细胞表面的恶性疟原虫红细胞表面蛋白1(PfPMP1)与感染红细胞、内皮细胞、树突状细胞以及胎盘的单个或多个受体作用,在黏附及免疫逃避中起关键的作用。每个单倍体基因组var基因家族编码约60种成员,通过启动转录不同的var基因变异体为抗原变异提供了分子基础。

18,940 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Jean Paul Thiery1
TL;DR: Epithelial–mesenchymal transition provides a new basis for understanding the progression of carcinoma towards dedifferentiated and more malignant states.
Abstract: Without epithelial–mesenchymal transitions, in which polarized epithelial cells are converted into motile cells, multicellular organisms would be incapable of getting past the blastula stage of embryonic development. However, this important developmental programme has a more sinister role in tumour progression. Epithelial–mesenchymal transition provides a new basis for understanding the progression of carcinoma towards dedifferentiated and more malignant states.

6,362 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is shown that mouse Snail is a strong repressor of transcription of the E-cadherin gene, opening up new avenues for the design of specific anti-invasive drugs.
Abstract: The Snail family of transcription factors has previously been implicated in the differentiation of epithelial cells into mesenchymal cells (epithelial-mesenchymal transitions) during embryonic development. Epithelial-mesenchymal transitions are also determinants of the progression of carcinomas, occurring concomitantly with the cellular acquisition of migratory properties following downregulation of expression of the adhesion protein E-cadherin. Here we show that mouse Snail is a strong repressor of transcription of the E-cadherin gene. Epithelial cells that ectopically express Snail adopt a fibroblastoid phenotype and acquire tumorigenic and invasive properties. Endogenous Snail protein is present in invasive mouse and human carcinoma cell lines and tumours in which E-cadherin expression has been lost. Therefore, the same molecules are used to trigger epithelial-mesenchymal transitions during embryonic development and in tumour progression. Snail may thus be considered as a marker for malignancy, opening up new avenues for the design of specific anti-invasive drugs.

3,426 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Paul Polakis1
TL;DR: In this review, the wnt pathway will be covered from the perspective of cancer, with emphasis placed on molecular defects known to promote neoplastic transformation in humans and in animal models.
Abstract: The regulation of cell growth and survival can be subverted by a variety of genetic defects that alter transcriptional programs normally responsible for controlling cell number. High throughput analysis of these gene expression patterns should ultimately lead to the identification of minimal expression profiles that will serve as common denominators in assigning a cancer to a given category. In the course of defining the common denominators, though, we should not be too surprised to find that cancers within a single category may nevertheless exhibit seemingly disparate genetic defects. The wnt pathway has already provided an outstanding example of this. We now know of three regulatory genes in this pathway that are mutated in primary human cancers and several others that promote experimental cancers in rodents (Fig. 1). In all of these cases the common denominator is the activation of gene transcription by -catenin. The resulting gene expression profile should provide us with a signature common to those cancers carrying defects in the wnt pathway. In this review, the wnt pathway will be covered from the perspective of cancer, with emphasis placed on molecular defects known to promote neoplastic transformation in humans and in animal models.

3,277 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
23 Oct 2003-Nature
TL;DR: It is concluded that SNO cells lining the bone surface function as a key component of the niche to support HSCs, and that BMP signalling through BMPRIA controls the number of H SCs by regulating niche size.
Abstract: Haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are a subset of bone marrow cells that are capable of self-renewal and of forming all types of blood cells (multi-potential). However, the HSC 'niche'--the in vivo regulatory microenvironment where HSCs reside--and the mechanisms involved in controlling the number of adult HSCs remain largely unknown. The bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signal has an essential role in inducing haematopoietic tissue during embryogenesis. We investigated the roles of the BMP signalling pathway in regulating adult HSC development in vivo by analysing mutant mice with conditional inactivation of BMP receptor type IA (BMPRIA). Here we show that an increase in the number of spindle-shaped N-cadherin+CD45- osteoblastic (SNO) cells correlates with an increase in the number of HSCs. The long-term HSCs are found attached to SNO cells. Two adherens junction molecules, N-cadherin and beta-catenin, are asymmetrically localized between the SNO cells and the long-term HSCs. We conclude that SNO cells lining the bone surface function as a key component of the niche to support HSCs, and that BMP signalling through BMPRIA controls the number of HSCs by regulating niche size.

2,949 citations