Background: Differentiating oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) into oligodendrocytes could be improved by inhibiting signaling pathways such as Wnt and Notch. 9-cis-retinoic acid (9-cis-RA) and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25[OH]2D3) can ameliorate oligodendrogenesis. We investigated whether they could increase oligodendrogenesis by inhibiting the Wnt and Notch signaling pathways.Methods: Co...

background: embryonic stem cells (esc) are pluripotent cells which have been used as a model to study the mechanism that control the embryogenesis and early mammalian development in vitro. the aim of this study was to isolate and produce embryonic stem cells from late blastocyst stage embryos in mice. materials and methods: blastocyst stage embryos from pregnant nmri mice were obtained and cult...

background: leukemia inhibitory factor (lif) is a 45-56 kda glycoprotein that has an important role in proliferation and embryo implantation. its effect on oocyte maturation and how to exert the function remained to be elucidated. methods: immature mice superovulated with human menopausal gonadotropin and germinal vesicle (gv) oocytes were obtained from ovary 48 hours after. gv oocytes were cul...

In this commentary, we discuss how our recent paper by Yang et al. contributes a new wrinkle to the already somewhat curious Wnt signaling pathway in C. elegans. We begin with a historical perspective on the Wnt pathway in the worm, followed by a summary of the key salient point from Yang et al., 2011, namely demonstration of mutually inhibitory binding of a β-catenin SYS-1 to the N-terminus an...

abstract  background: despite the long-standing association of macrophage migration inhibitory  factor (mif) with delayed-type hypersensitivity response, the potential role  of mif in chronic allograft nephropathy is unknown. the association between upregulation of mif expression, macrophage and t cell infiltration and the severity of  chronic allograft nephropathy suggests that mif may be an i...

UNLABELLED Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an aggressive malignancy in need of more effective treatment approaches. One potential therapeutic target is Wnt/β-catenin signaling, which plays important roles in PDAC tumor initiation and progression. Among Wnt inhibitors with suitable in vivo biologic activity is vitamin D, which is known to antagonize Wnt/β-catenin signaling in colorect...

Signaling by the Wnt family of secreted glycoproteins plays important roles in embryonic development and adult homeostasis. Wnt signaling is modulated by a number of evolutionarily conserved inhibitors and activators. Wnt inhibitors belong to small protein families, including sFRP, Dkk, WIF, Wise/SOST, Cerberus, IGFBP, Shisa, Waif1, APCDD1, and Tiki1. Their common feature is to antagonize Wnt s...

Wnt signalling through β-catenin and the lymphoid-enhancing factor 1/T-cell factor (LEF1/TCF) family of transcription factors maintains stem cell properties in both normal and malignant tissues; however, the underlying molecular pathway involved in this process has not been completely defined. Using a microRNA microarray screening assay, we identified let-7 miRNAs as downstream targets of the W...

Context There is great interest in the biology of vascular calcification. Wnt/β-catenin signaling is an important mediator of mineralization and may play a role in vascular calcification. Objective We assessed the association between circulating Wnt antagonists and abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) severity in elderly women. Design This was a cross-sectional analysis of the Calcium Intak...

Misregulated β-catenin responsive transcription (CRT) has been implicated in the genesis of various malignancies, including colorectal carcinomas, and it is a key therapeutic target in combating various cancers. Despite significant effort, successful clinical implementation of CRT inhibitory therapeutics remains a challenging goal. This is, in part, because of the challenge of identifying inhib...