Search results for "Wnt Signaling Pathway"
showing 10 items of 115 documents
Vitamin D as an effective treatment in human uterine leiomyomas independent of mediator complex subunit 12 mutation.
2021
Objective To study whether vitamin D (VitD) inhibits cell proliferation and Wnt/β-catenin and transforming growth factor−β (TGFβ) signaling pathways in uterine leiomyomas independent of mediator complex subunit 12 (MED12) mutation status. Design Prospective study comparing leiomyoma vs. myometrial tissues and human uterine leiomyoma primary (HULP) cells treated with or without VitD and analyzed by MED12 mutation status. Setting Hospital and university laboratories. Patient(s) Women with uterine leiomyoma without any treatment (n = 37). Intervention(s) Uterine leiomyoma and myometrium samples were collected from women undergoing surgery because of symptomatic leiomyoma pathology. Main Outcom…
Hypoxic macrophages impair autophagy in epithelial cells through Wnt1: relevance in IBD.
2014
A defective induction of epithelial autophagy may have a role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases. This process is regulated mainly by extracellular factors such as nutrients and growth factors and is highly induced by diverse situations of stress. We hypothesized that epithelial autophagy is regulated by the immune response that in turn is modulated by local hypoxia and inflammatory signals present in the inflamed mucosa. Our results reveal that HIF-1 alpha and Wnt1 were co-localized with CD68 in cells of the mucosa of IBD patients. We have observed increased protein levels of beta-catenin, phosphorylated mTOR, and p62 and decreased expression of LC3II in colonic epithelial …
Sequential transcriptome analysis of human liver cancer indicates late stage acquisition of malignant traits
2014
Background & Aims Human hepatocarcinogenesis is as a multi-step process starting from dysplastic lesions to early carcinomas (eHCC) that ultimately progress to HCC (pHCC). However, the sequential molecular alterations driving malignant transformation of the pre-neoplastic lesions are not clearly defined. This lack of information represents a major challenge in the clinical management of patients at risk. Methods We applied next-generation transcriptome sequencing to tumor-free surrounding liver (n=7), low- (n=4) and high-grade (n=9) dysplastic lesions, eHCC (n=5) and pHCC (n=3) from 8 HCC patients with hepatitis B infection. Integrative analyses of genetic and transcriptomic changes were pe…
Wnt activity defines colon cancer stem cells and is regulated by the microenvironment.
2010
Despite the presence of mutations in APC or beta-catenin, which are believed to activate the Wnt signalling cascade constitutively, most colorectal cancers show cellular heterogeneity when beta-catenin localization is analysed, indicating a more complex regulation of Wnt signalling. We explored this heterogeneity with a Wnt reporter construct and observed that high Wnt activity functionally designates the colon cancer stem cell (CSC) population. In adenocarcinomas, high activity of the Wnt pathway is observed preferentially in tumour cells located close to stromal myofibroblasts, indicating that Wnt activity and cancer stemness may be regulated by extrinsic cues. In agreement with this noti…
Convergence of Wnt signaling on the HNF4alpha-driven transcription in controlling liver zonation.
2009
Background & Aims: In each hepatocyte, the specific repertoire of gene expression is influenced by its exact location along the portocentrovenular axis of the hepatic lobule and provides a reason for the liver functions compartmentalization defined "metabolic zonation." So far, few molecular players controlling genetic programs of periportal (PP) and perivenular (PV) hepatocytes have been identified; the elucidation of zonation mechanisms remains a challenge for experimental hepatology. Recently, a key role in induction and maintenance of the hepatocyte heterogeneity has been ascribed to Wnt/β-catenin pathway. We sought to clarify how this wide-ranging stimulus integrates with hepatocyte s…
β-Catenin Activation Regulates Tissue Growth Non–Cell Autonomously in the Hair Stem Cell Niche
2014
Coordinated Hair Growth Wnt/β-catenin signaling is a key pathway that plays a conserved role in regulating stem cell function during adult tissue regeneration. Using time-lapse imaging of live mice, Deschene et al. (p. 1353 ) show that genetic activation of β-catenin within hair follicle stem cells generates axes of hair growth by coordinated cell divisions and cell movements, even when the normal niches—the dermal papillae—are laser-ablated. Activated β-catenin enhances Wnt ligand secretion, and these ligands can then activate Wnt signaling in adjacent cells that do not have activated β-catenin, indicating how activated stem cells could influence neighboring cells during normal growth and …
A Wnt-specific astacin proteinase controls head formation inHydra
2020
AbstractTheHydrahead organizer acts as a signaling center that initiates and maintains the primary body axis in steady state polyps and during budding or regeneration. Wnt/beta-Catenin signaling functions as a primary cue controlling this process, but how Wnt ligand activity is locally restricted at the protein level is poorly understood.Here we report the identification of an astacin family proteinase as a Wnt processing factor.Hydraastacin-7 (HAS-7) is expressed from gland cells as an apical-distal gradient in the body column, peaking close beneath the tentacle zone.HAS-7siRNA knockdown abrogates HyWnt3 proteolysis in the head tissue and induces a robust double axis phenotype, which is re…
Liver Transplantation for Unresectable Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma: The Role of Sequencing Genetic Profiling
2021
Simple Summary Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma is a rare disease with increasing incidence and mortality still characterized by an insufficient clinical outcome. Growing attention has recently surrounded this disease, and liver transplantation has emerged as a novel curative treatment for cholangiocarcinoma, along with a better understanding of genetic alterations potentially capable of driving tumorigenesis. The aim of this paper is to present a clinical description of our case series of patients affected by intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and by mixed forms of hepatocellular and cholangiocellular carcinoma, together with a genomic profiling of mutations occurring in a panel of genes relev…
Pharmacological targeting of the novel β-catenin chromatin-associated kinase p38α in colorectal cancer stem cell tumorspheres and organoids
2021
AbstractThe prognosis of locally advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) is currently unsatisfactory. This is mainly due to drug resistance, recurrence, and subsequent metastatic dissemination, which are sustained by the cancer stem cell (CSC) population. The main driver of the CSC gene expression program is Wnt signaling, and previous reports indicate that Wnt3a can activate p38 MAPK. Besides, p38 was shown to feed into the canonical Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Here we show that patient-derived locally advanced CRC stem cells (CRC-SCs) are characterized by increased expression of p38α and are “addicted” to its kinase activity. Of note, we found that stage III CRC patients with high p38α levels display…
Abstract 1918: Gene characterization of lung-tumorspheres for their usage as an in vitro screening platform for testing new therapeutic strategies
2017
Abstract Background: Lung cancer features like treatment resistance or tumor relapse have been linked to cancer stem cells (CSCs), a population of cells with self-renewal properties, and the ability to grow forming tumorspheres in non-adherent conditions. The aim of this study was to isolate and characterize tumorspheres from lung cancer cell lines and tumor tissue from resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients and to use them as an in vitro platform for drug screening. Methods: This study was performed on cells from seven NSCLC tumor samples and five cell lines (H1650, H1993, H1395, A549 and PC9) grown in monolayer and as spheroids. The expression of 60 genes, including CSC-ma…