Search results for "Wnt signaling pathway"
showing 10 items of 115 documents
Retinoic Acid affects Lung Adenocarcinoma growth by inducing differentiation via GATA6 activation and EGFR and Wnt inhibition
2016
AbstractA fundamental task in cancer research aims at the identification of new pharmacological therapies that can affect tumor growth. Differentiation therapy might exploit this function not only for hematological diseases, such as acute promyelocytic leukemia (APML) but also for epithelial tumors, including lung cancer. Here we show that Retinoic Acid (RA) arrests in vitro and in vivo the growth of Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKI) resistant Non Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). In particular, we found that RA induces G0/G1 cell cycle arrest in TKI resistant NSCLC cells and activates terminal differentiation programs by modulating the expression of GATA6, a key transcription factor involved …
Disruption of TCF/β-Catenin Binding Impairs Wnt Signaling and Induces Apoptosis in Soft Tissue Sarcoma Cells
2017
Abstract Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are malignant tumors of mesenchymal origin and represent around 1% of adult cancers, being a very heterogeneous group of tumors with more than 50 different subtypes. The Wnt signaling pathway is involved in the development and in the regulation, self-renewal, and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells, and plays a role in sarcomagenesis. In this study, we have tested pharmacologic inhibition of Wnt signaling mediated by disruption of TCF/β-catenin binding and AXIN stabilization, being the first strategy more efficient in reducing cell viability and downstream effects. We have shown that disruption of TCF/β-catenin binding with PKF118-310 produces in vi…
Targeting chemoresistant colorectal cancer via systemic administration of a BMP7 variant
2020
Abstract Despite intense research and clinical efforts, patients affected by advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) have still a poor prognosis. The discovery of colorectal (CR) cancer stem cell (CSC) as the cell compartment responsible for tumor initiation and propagation may provide new opportunities for the development of new therapeutic strategies. Given the reduced sensitivity of CR-CSCs to chemotherapy and the ability of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP) to promote colonic stem cell differentiation, we aimed to investigate whether an enhanced variant of BMP7 (BMP7v) could sensitize to chemotherapy-resistant CRC cells and tumors. Thirty-five primary human cultures enriched in CR-CSCs, includ…
WNT signaling modulates PD-L1 expression in the stem cell compartment of triple-negative breast cancer
2019
Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) are characterized by a poor prognosis and lack of targeted treatments, and thus, new therapeutic strategies are urgently needed. Inhibitors against programmed death-1 (PD-1)/PD-1 ligand (PD-L1) have shown significant efficacy in various solid cancers, but their activity against TNBCs remains limited. Here, we report that human TNBCs molecularly stratified for high levels of PD-L1 (PD-L1High) showed significantly enriched expression of immune and cancer stemness pathways compared with those with low PD-L1 expression (PD-L1Low). In addition, the PD-L1High cases were significantly associated with a high stemness score (SSHigh) signature. TNBC cell lines g…
CHK1 inhibitor sensitizes resistant colorectal cancer stem cells to nortopsentin
2021
Summary Limited therapeutic options are available for advanced colorectal cancer (CRC). Herein, we report that exposure to a neo-synthetic bis(indolyl)thiazole alkaloid analog, nortopsentin 234 (NORA234), leads to an initial reduction of proliferative and clonogenic potential of CRC sphere cells (CR-CSphCs), followed by an adaptive response selecting the CR-CSphC-resistant compartment. Cells spared by the treatment with NORA234 express high levels of CD44v6, associated with a constitutive activation of Wnt pathway. In CR-CSphC-based organoids, NORA234 causes a genotoxic stress paralleled by G2-M cell cycle arrest and activation of CHK1, driving the DNA damage repair of CR-CSphCs, regardless…
EpCAM duality becomes this molecule in a new Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde tale.
2018
EpCAM, known as an epithelial cell adhesion molecule, plays an essential role in cell adhesion, migration, metastasis and cell signalling. Rather than acting as an apoptosis antagonist, it induces cellular proliferation that impacts the cell cycle, and as a signalling transducer it uses and enhances the Wnt pathway, which is significantly relevant in cell renewal and cancer. EpCAM has become a marker of circulating tumour cells (CTCs) in lung cancer due to its specificity, and its high and stable expression level. Recent findings have allowed us to relearn and discover EpCAM again as a CSCs marker by demonstrating its role in human epithelial cancer progression. In line with this, the focus…
Evaluation of Planar-Cell-Polarity Phenotypes in Ciliopathy Mouse Mutant Cochlea
2016
In recent years, primary cilia have emerged as key regulators in development and disease by influencing numerous signaling pathways. One of the earliest signaling pathways shown to be associated with ciliary function was the non-canonical Wnt signaling pathway, also referred to as planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling. One of the best places in which to study the effects of planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling during vertebrate development is the mammalian cochlea. PCP signaling disruption in the mouse cochlea disrupts cochlear outgrowth, cellular patterning and hair cell orientation, all of which are affected by cilia dysfunction. The goal of this protocol is to describe the analysis of PCP…
Cyclic pentapeptide cRGDfK enhances the inhibitory effect of sunitinib on TGF-β1-induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in human non-small cell…
2020
AbstractIn human lung cancer progression, the EMT process is characterized by the transformation of cancer cells into invasive forms that migrate to other organs. Targeting to EMT-related molecules is emerging as a novel therapeutic approach for the prevention of lung cancer cell migration and invasion. Traf2- and Nck-interacting kinase (TNIK) has recently been considered as an anti-proliferative target molecule to regulate the Wnt signaling pathway in several types of cancer cells. In the present study, we evaluated the inhibitory effect of a tyrosine kinase inhibitor sunitinib and the integrin-αVβ3targeted cyclic peptide (cRGDfK) on EMT in human lung cancer cells. Sunitinib strongly inhib…
The Drosophila Hox gene Ultrabithorax acts both in muscles and motoneurons to orchestrate formation of specific neuromuscular connections
2016
Hox genes are known to specify motoneuron pools in the developing vertebrate spinal cord and to control motoneuronal targeting in several species. However, the mechanisms controlling axial diversification of muscle innervation patterns are still largely unknown. We present data showing that the Drosophila Hox gene Ultrabithorax (Ubx) acts in the late embryo to establish target specificity of ventrally projecting RP motoneurons. In abdominal segments A2 to A7, RP motoneurons innervate the ventrolateral muscles VL1-4, with VL1 and VL2 being innervated in a Wnt4-dependent manner. In Ubx mutants, these motoneurons fail to make correct contacts with muscle VL1, a phenotype partially resembling t…
The activation of Wnt signaling by a STAT6-dependent macrophage phenotype promotes mucosal repair in murine IBD
2016
The complete repair of the mucosa constitutes a key goal in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) treatment. The Wnt signaling pathway mediates mucosal repair and M2 macrophages that coordinate efficient healing have been related to Wnt ligand expression. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6) mediates M2 polarization in vitro and we hypothesize that a STAT6-dependent macrophage phenotype mediates mucosal repair in acute murine colitis by activating the Wnt signaling pathway. Our results reveal an impaired mucosal expression of M2 macrophage-associated genes and delayed wound healing in STAT6(-/-) mice treated with 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS). These mice also ex…