materials and methods an oligogearray® (an oligonucleotide-based gene expression array platform) containing 126 wnt signaling pathway-related genes was used to compare gene expressions between primary hcc and adjacent non-tumorous liver tissues from 10 patients with hcc. selected differential genes were identified with real-time rt-pcr and immunohistochemistry (ihc). in particular, the protein ...

Wnts are a large family of secreted proteins that regulate cell polarity and migration throughout development, from gastrulation to synaptogenesis. Wnt binds to Frizzled receptors along with different coreceptors, leading to activation of Disheveled. Depending on which coreceptor is involved and whether Disheveled is localized to the membrane, Wnt signaling either leads to accumulation of cytop...

BACKGROUND Members of the Casein Kinase I (CKI) family of serine/threonine kinases regulate diverse biological pathways. The seven mammalian CKI isoforms contain a highly conserved kinase domain and divergent amino- and carboxy-termini. Although they share a preferred target recognition sequence and have overlapping expression patterns, individual isoforms often have specific substrates. In an ...

Retina ganglion cell (RGC) axons grow along a stereotyped pathway undergoing coordinated rounds of fasciculation and defasciculation, which are critical to establishing proper eye-brain connections. How this coordination is achieved is poorly understood, but shedding of guidance cues by metalloproteinases is emerging as a relevant mechanism. Secreted Frizzled Related Proteins (Sfrps) are multif...

On pathological stress, the heart reactivates several signaling pathways that traditionally were thought to be operational only in the developing heart. One of these pathways is the WNT signaling pathway. WNT controls heart development but is also modulated during adult heart remodeling. This review summarizes the currently available data regarding WNT signaling during left ventricular (LV) rem...

On pathological stress, the heart reactivates several signaling pathways that traditionally were thought to be operational only in the developing heart. One of these pathways is the WNT signaling pathway. WNT controls heart development but is also modulated during adult heart remodeling. This review summarizes the currently available data regarding WNT signaling during left ventricular (LV) rem...

The brain of a patient with Alzheimer’s disease is clogged with plaques—clumps of protein whose main constituent is a small polypeptide called amyloid-beta, or a-beta. A-beta is cleaved from a larger protein called amyloid precursor protein (APP). A drug to clear a-beta remains at the top of the (unfulfilled) wish list for the disease, but it remains unclear whether the clumps are the cause or ...

Wnt-induced signaling via beta-catenin plays crucial roles in animal development and tumorigenesis. Both a seven-transmembrane protein in the Frizzled family and a single transmembrane protein in the LRP family (LDL-receptor-related protein 5/6 or Arrow) are essential for efficiently transducing a signal from Wnt, an extracellular ligand, to an intracellular pathway that stabilizes beta-catenin...