Abstract
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 apoptosis. Here, we report that cells expressing Wnt-1 were resistant to cancer therapy-mediated apoptosis. Wnt-1 signaling inhibited the cytochrome c release and the subsequent caspase-9 activation induced by chemotherapeutic drugs, including both vincristine and vinblastine. Furthermore, we found that Wnt-1-mediated cell survival was dependent on the activation of beta-catenin/T cell factor (Tcf) transcription. Inhibition of beta-catenin/Tcf transcription by expression of the dominant-negative mutant of Tcf-4 blocked Wnt-1-mediated cell survival and rendered cells sensitive to apoptotic stimuli. These results provide the first demonstration that Wnt-1 inhibits cancer therapy-mediated apoptosis and suggests that Wnt-1 may exhibit its oncogenic potential through a mechanism of anti-apoptosis.
Publication types
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Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
MeSH terms
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Animals
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Apoptosis*
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Caspase 9
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Caspases / metabolism
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Cell Line
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Cell Survival
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Colorectal Neoplasms
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Cytochrome c Group / metabolism
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Cytoskeletal Proteins / metabolism*
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Enzyme Activation
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Humans
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JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases
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Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / metabolism
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Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / metabolism
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Proto-Oncogene Proteins / genetics
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Proto-Oncogene Proteins / metabolism*
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Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt
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Rats
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Signal Transduction / physiology*
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TCF Transcription Factors
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Trans-Activators*
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Transcription Factor 7-Like 2 Protein
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Transcription Factors / metabolism*
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Transcription, Genetic
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Transcriptional Activation*
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Tumor Cells, Cultured
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Wnt Proteins
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Wnt1 Protein
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Zebrafish Proteins*
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beta Catenin
Substances
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CTNNB1 protein, human
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Ctnnb1 protein, rat
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Cytochrome c Group
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Cytoskeletal Proteins
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Proto-Oncogene Proteins
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TCF Transcription Factors
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TCF7L2 protein, human
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Tcf7l2 protein, rat
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Trans-Activators
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Transcription Factor 7-Like 2 Protein
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Transcription Factors
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WNT1 protein, human
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Wnt Proteins
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Wnt1 Protein
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Wnt1 protein, rat
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Zebrafish Proteins
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beta Catenin
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Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases
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Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt
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JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases
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Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases
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CASP9 protein, human
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Casp9 protein, rat
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Caspase 9
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Caspases