GABA(A) receptors (GABA(A)-Rs) play a significant role in mediating fast synaptic inhibition and it is the main inhibitory receptor in the CNS. The role of Wnt signaling in coordinating synapse structure and function in the mature CNS is poorly understood. In previous studies we found that Wnt ligands can modulate excitatory synapses through remodeling both presynaptic and postsynaptic regions....

background: leukemia inhibitory factor (lif) is a pleiotropic cytokine of interleukin-6 family with a remarkable range of biological actions such as proliferative effects on the granulosa and theca cells. the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of lif on the growth and maturation of mouse fresh and vitrified preantral follicles, an in vitro model was developed. methods: the ovaries of...

Wnt glycolipoproteins are extracellular ligands that can be found in many species, ranging from the sea anemone to human [1]. Wnts are signaling factors regulating several key developmental processes, such as proliferation, differentiation, asymmetric division, patterning and cell fate determination [2,3]. The Wnt family consists of 19 lipid modified secreted glycoproteins that are primarily di...

To investigate the cellular and molecular interactions between clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) and perinephric adipose tissue (PAT), perineoplasm PAT, PAT away from the neoplasm, renal sinus and subcutaneous adipose tissues were collected at the time of renal surgery for renal masses and conditioned medium (CM) was generated from 62 patients. Perineoplasm PAT CMs from 44 out of 62 (abou...

Axin antagonizes the developmental effects of Wnt in vertebrates. We show here that Axin simultaneously binds two components of the Wnt pathway, b-catenin and its negative regulator glycogen synthase kinase-3b. In mammalian cells, Axin inhibits Wnt-1 stimulation of b-cateniny lymphoid enhancer factor 1-dependent transcription. Axin also blocks b-catenin-mediated transcription in colon cancer ce...

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of anti-estrogen treatment (fulvestrant) on the biological activity of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), involving the estrogen receptor α (ERα) and Wnt pathways, and to evaluate whether ERα and Wnt inhibitory factor-1 (WIF1) could be biomarkers for anti-estrogen clinical therapy. H22 and HepG2 cells were treated with 0.04 to 625 nM fulve...

Wnt/β-catenin signalling directs fundamental processes during metazoan development and can be aberrantly activated in cancer. Wnt stimulation induces the recruitment of the scaffold protein Axin from an inhibitory destruction complex to a stimulatory signalosome. Here we analyse the early effects of Wnt on Axin and find that the ADP-ribose polymerase Tankyrase (Tnks)--known to target Axin for p...

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α (PPARα) displays renoprotective effects with an unclear mechanism. Aberrant activation of the canonical Wnt pathway plays a key role in renal fibrosis. Renal levels of PPARα were downregulated in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes models. The PPARα agonist fenofibrate and overexpression of PPARα both attenuated the expression of fibrotic factors, and su...

Wnt signaling plays a critical role in development and oncogenesis. Although significant progress has been made in understanding the downstream signaling cascade of Wnt signaling, little is known regarding Wnt signaling modification of the cell death machinery. Given that numerous oncogenes transform cells by providing cell survival function, we hypothesized that Wnt signaling may inhibit apopt...