Chronic activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling is found in a variety of human malignancies including melanoma, colorectal and hepatocellular carcinomas. Interestingly, expression of the HCMV-encoded chemokine receptor US28 in intestinal epithelial cells promotes intestinal neoplasia in transgenic mice, which is associated with increased nuclear accumulation of β-catenin. In this study we show th...

To date, β-catenin has been reported to be implicated in mediating the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in a variety of human cancers, which can be triggered by EGF. However, the mechanisms underlying EGF-β-catenin pathway-induced EMT of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) have not been reported previously. In the present study, immunohistochemistry, reverse transcription polymerase chain reac...

Wnt proteins are a large family of secreted glycoproteins. Wnt proteins bind to the Frizzled receptors and LRP5/6 co-receptors, and through stabilizing the critical mediator β-catenin, initiate a complex signaling cascade that plays an important role in regulating cell proliferation and differentiation. Deregulation of the canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, mostly by inactivating mutati...

In vertebrate embryos, signaling via the beta-catenin protein is known to play an essential role in the induction of the dorsal axis. In its signaling capacity, beta-catenin acts directly to affect target gene transcription, in concert with transcription factors of the TCF/LEF family. We have developed a cell-free in vitro assay for beta-catenin signaling activity that utilizes transcriptionall...

The transcriptional basis of vertebrate limb initiation, which is a well-studied system for the initiation of organogenesis, remains elusive. Specifically, involvement of the β-catenin pathway in limb initiation, as well as its role in hindlimb-specific transcriptional regulation, are under debate. Here, we show that the β-catenin pathway is active in the limb-forming area in mouse embryos. Fur...

The stability of β-catenin is very important for canonical Wnt signaling. A protein complex including Axin/APC/GSK3β phosphorylates β-catenin to be degraded by ubiquitination with β-TrCP. In the recent study, we isolated WDR26, a protein that binds to Axin. Here, we found that WDR26 is a negative regulator of the canonical Wnt signaling pathway, and that WDR26 affected β-catenin levels. In addi...

Metastatic melanoma is a leading cause of death from skin diseases, and is often associated with activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. We have examined the inhibitory effect of silymarin, a plant flavanoid from Silybum marianum, on cell migration of metastasis-specific human melanoma cell lines (A375 and Hs294t) and assessed whether Wnt/β-catenin signaling is the target of silymarin. U...

The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway plays important roles in the progression of colon cancer. DACT1 has been identified as a modulator of Wnt signaling through its interaction with Dishevelled (Dvl), a central mediator of both the canonical and noncanonical Wnt pathways. However, the functions of DACT1 in the WNT/β-catenin signaling pathway remain unclear. Here, we present evidence that DACT1 i...

Skin pigmentation depends on cellular processes including biogenesis, transport, maturation, and transfer of melanosomes to keratinocytes. However, the mechanisms associated with fine spatial temporal controls ensure adequate remain unclear. Here, we show that a component cytoplasmic dynein complex, Dynlt3, is required for acidity regulation efficient In Mus musculus melanocytes decreased level...

Treatment with several Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway regulators can change the cellular reprogramming efficiency; however, the dynamics and role of endogenous Wnt/β-catenin signaling in reprogramming remain largely unanswered. Here we identify the upregulation of WNT2 and subsequent β-catenin nuclear accumulation as key events in reprogramming. Transient nuclear accumulation of β-catenin occu...