The role of Wnt signaling in embryonic development and stem cell maintenance is well established and aberrations leading to the constitutive up-regulation of this pathway are frequent in several types of human cancers. Upon ligand-mediated activation, Wnt receptors promote the stabilization of β-catenin, which translocates to the nucleus and binds to the T-cell factor/lymphoid enhancer factor (...

Classical G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and canonical Wnt pathways were believed to use distinct signaling pathways. However, recent studies have shown that these two pathways interact each other by sharing several intermediate signaling components. Recent in vivo studies showed that antipsychotic drugs, which block dopamine D2-like receptors, increase the cellular levels of downstream si...

The HMG-box factor Tcf1 is required during T-cell development in the thymus and mediates the nuclear response to Wnt signals. Tcf1(-/-) mice have previously been characterized and show developmental blocks at the CD4-CD8- double negative (DN) to CD4+CD8+ double positive transition. Due to the blocks in T-cell development, Tcf1(-/-) mice normally have a very small thymus. Unexpectedly, a large p...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Charcot neuropathy is characterized by bone destruction in a foot leading to deformity, instability, and risk of amputation. Little is known about the pathogenic mechanisms. We hypothesized that the bone-regulating Wnt/β-catenin and RANKL/OPG pathways have a role in Charcot arthropathy. PATIENTS AND METHODS 24 consecutive Charcot patients were treated by off-loading, an...

Background This research studies the effects of activation and inhibition of Wnt3A signaling pathway in buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) embryonic stem (ES) cell-like cells. MaterialsAndMethods To carry on this experimental study, the effects of activation and inhibition of Wnt3A signaling in buffalo ES cell-like cells were examined using Bio (0.5 mM) combined with WNT3A (200 ng/ml), as an activator, ...

PC12 cells differentiate in response to nerve growth factor from a chromaffin cell to a sympathetic neuronal phenotype. Wnt-1 is a secreted signaling factor required for development of mammalian midbrain and cerebellum. PC12 cells transformed by Wnt-1 fail to express several differentiation-specific genes in response to nerve growth factor. We have previously shown that HES-1, a negative regula...

Increased expression of cullin 4B (CUL4B) is linked to progression in several cancers. This study aims to explore the effects of CUL4B on bladder cancer (BC) metastasis and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and potential correlation to the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. We collected BC tissues and adjacent normal tissues from 124 BC patients. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain r...

PURPOSE Average survival of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) is associated with clinical stage at diagnosis, where stage I has a favorable survival prognosis, whereas patients with more advanced stages succumb to their disease within 5 years. Although the majority of patients present with an early-stage CTCL, 15% to 20% of them will inevitably progress. Current state-of-the-art clinical criteri...

Wnt inhibitory factor-1 (WIF-1) has been identified as one of the secreted antagonists that bind Wnt protein. WIF-1 has been described as a tumor suppressor in various types of cancer. However, the molecular function of WIF-1 gene has never been examined in human renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Therefore, we hypothesized that WIF-1 functions as a tumor suppressor gene and overexpression of this gen...