• BMB Reports
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• 제41권7호
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• pp.485-494
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• 2008

The Wnt signaling network, which is composed of Wnt ligands, receptors, antagonists, and intracellular signaling molecules, has emerged as a powerful regulator of cell fate, proliferation, and function in multicellular organisms. Over the past two decades, the critical role of Wnt signaling in embryonic cartilage and bone development has been well established, and much has been learnt regarding the role of Wnt signaling in chondrogenesis and cartilage development. However, relatively little is known about the role of Wnt signaling in adult articular cartilage and degenerative cartilage tissue. This review will briefly summarize recent advances in Wnt regulation of chondrogenesis and hypertrophic maturation of chondrocytes, and review data concerning the role of Wnt signaling in the maintenance and degeneration of articular chondrocytes and cartilage.

• 한국발생생물학회지:발생과생식
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• 제11권3호
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• pp.141-153
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• 2007

Wnt 신호 전달 과정은 다세포 생물체의 발생 과정에서 세포의 증식이나 분화를 조절하거나 성인 조직에서 항상성을 유지하는데 결정적인 역할을 한다. 따라서 Wnt 신호 전달의 조절에 이상이 생기면 암을 비롯한 다양한 질병이 유발되어진다. 최근 들어서 Wnt 신호 전달의 이상에 의해 유도될 것이라고 생각되어지는 질병의 수가 많아져서, Wnt 신호 전달의 조절에 관심을 갖는 연구자가 많아지고 있다. 많은 리뷰 논문이 출판되었지만, 대부분의 경우 Wnt 전문가들을 위한 특정 논제를 다루는 경우가 많기 때문에, 처음으로 Wnt 신호 전달을 연구하고자 하는 연구자들이 Wnt 신호 전달의 전체적인 흐름을 파악하는데 어려움을 겪는 예가 있다. 본 총설에서는 Wnt 신호 전달 과정을 전체적으로 설명함으로써 Wnt 신호 전달에서 우리가 알고 있는 사실과 앞으로 연구되어야 할 내용들을 이해하고자 한다.

• 생명과학회지
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• 제23권7호
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• pp.947-954
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• 2013

Wnt/${\beta}$-catenin 신호는 세포의 운명 결정, 증식, 분화 등을 조절하는 척추 동물 배아 발생과 성체의 항상성 유지에 필수적인 세포신호전달경로이다. 이러한 Wnt/${\beta}$-catenin의 비정상적인 조절에 의해 선천적 기형, 암, 대사질환 등을 비롯한 다양한 질병이 유발된다. 이를 바탕으로 최근 Wnt/${\beta}$-catenin 신호의 조절을 통한 암을 비롯한 질병의 치료를 위한 연구가 활발히 진행되고 있다. 따라서 Wnt/${\beta}$-catenin 신호를 조절하는 인자의 발굴 및 자세한 작용 기전에 대한 연구가 절실히 필요하다. 본 총설에서는 최근 새롭게 알려진 Wnt/${\beta}$-catenin 신호 조절 기작에 대해 설명하고, 현재까지 알려진 Wnt/${\beta}$조절하는 인산화 효소(kinase)의 종류와 작용 기전과 새로운 약물 타겟으로 전망을 알아 보고자 한다.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• 제26권2호
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• pp.109-117
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• 2020

The canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathways play an important role in the embryonic development, cell proliferation, differentiation, and adhesion. Therefore, the abnormal activation and repression have been associated with uncontrolled homeostasis in human tissues. In particular, the activation of Wnt signaling is highly correlated with a diverse of diseases including cancer. On this regard, a strategy for targeting Wnt/β-catenin signaling has been employed in the discovery and development of antitumor agents. Herein, the evolution of Wnt signaling and the Wnt inhibitors derived from natural products were briefly summarized in the drug discovery of anticancer agents.

• 생명과학회지
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• 제19권10호
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• pp.1346-1351
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• 2009

Neural crest는 신경계의 발생과정에서 생긴 특정화된 외배엽으로서 말초신경계(peripheral nervous system)의 모든 sensory cells과 peripheral cells, unipolar spinal ganglion cell, cranial sensory ganglia, peripheral nerve의 neurolemmal sheath cells, ganglia의 capsule cells, sympathetic ganglia, chromaffin cells, pigment cell 등의 자율신 경계의 대부분의 세포로 분화 한다. 최근pluripotetic neural crest cells의 운명이 이미 제한되어 있으며, 이러한 fate-restricted crest cells이 neural tube에서 emigration된다고 보고된바 있다. 또한 본 연구자는 Wnt와 Wnt의 antagonist가 neural crest cell의 specification이 일어나는 시기에 발현하여, neural crest cell의 segregation과 differentiation에 직접적으로 관여함을 밝혔다. 이를 보다 명확히 규명하기 위해, 본 연구에서는 neural tube에 Wnt-3a expressing cell의 grafting 혹은 dominant negative GSK construct의 electroporation을 통해 Wnt signaling을 modulation 하여 downstream mediator를 조사하였다. Wnt signaling의 stimulation은 neural crest cell의 melanoblast 로의 commitment를 유도하였으며, 이와 더불어 cadherin 7과 slug의 발현을 조절함을 확인하였다.

• BMB Reports
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• 제47권10호
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• pp.540-545
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• 2014

Balanced cell growth is crucial in animal development as well as tissue homeostasis. Concerted cross-regulation of multiple signaling pathways is essential for those purposes, and the dysregulation of signaling may lead to a variety of human diseases such as cancer. The time-honored Wnt/${\beta}$-catenin and recently identified Hippo signaling pathways are evolutionarily conserved in both Drosophila and mammals, and are generally considered as having positive and negative roles in cell proliferation, respectively. While most mainstream regulators of the Wnt/${\beta}$-catenin signaling pathway have been fairly well identified, the regulators of the Hippo pathway need to be more defined. The Hippo pathway controls organ size primarily by regulating cell contact inhibition. Recently, several cross-regulations occurring between the Wnt/${\beta}$-catenin and Hippo signaling pathways were determined through biochemical and genetic approaches. In the present mini-review, we mainly discuss the signal transduction mechanism of the Hippo signaling pathway, along with cross-talk between the regulators of the Wnt/${\beta}$-catenin and Hippo signaling pathways.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제33권1호
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• pp.114-122
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• 2023

A family of signal transduction pathways known as wingless type (Wnt) signaling pathways is essential to developmental processes like cell division and proliferation. Mutation in Wnt signaling results in a variety of diseases, including cancers of the breast, colon, and skin, metabolic disease, and neurodegenerative disease; thus, the Wnt signaling pathways have been attractive targets for disease treatment. However, the complicatedness and large involveness of the pathway often hampers pinpointing the specific targets of the metabolic process. In our current study, we investigated the differential metabolic regulation by the overexpression of the Wnt signaling pathway in a timely-resolved manner by applying high-throughput and un-targeted metabolite profiling. We have detected and annotated 321 metabolite peaks from a total of 36 human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells using GC-TOF MS and LC-Orbitrap MS. The un-targeted metabolomic analysis identified the radical reprogramming of a range of central carbon/nitrogen metabolism pathways, including glycolysis, TCA cycle, and glutaminolysis, and fatty acid pathways. The investigation, combined with targeted mRNA profiles, elucidated an explicit understanding of activated fatty acid metabolism (β-oxidation and biosynthesis). The findings proposed detailed mechanistic biochemical dynamics in response to Wnt-driven metabolic changes, which may help design precise therapeutic targets for Wnt-related diseases.

• BMB Reports
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• 제49권7호
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• pp.357-358
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• 2016

Merlin, encoded by the NF2 gene, is a tumor suppressor that exerts its function via inhibiting mitogenic receptors at the plasma membrane. Although multiple mutations in Merlin have been identified in Neurofibromatosis type II (NF2) disease, its molecular mechanism is not fully understood. Here, we show that Merlin interacts with LRP6 and inhibits LRP6 phosphorylation, a critical step for the initiation of Wnt signaling. We found that treatment of Wnt3a caused phosphorylation of Merlin by PAK1, leading to detachment of Merlin from LRP6 and allowing the initiation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. A higher level of β-catenin was found in tissues from NF2 patients. Enhanced proliferation and migration caused by knockdown of Merlin in glioblastoma cells were inhibited by suppression of β-catenin. Conclusively, these results suggest that sustained Wnt/β-catenin signaling activity induced by abrogation of Merlin-mediated inhibition of LRP6 phosphorylation might be a cause of NF2 disease.

• East Asian mathematical journal
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• 제39권1호
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• pp.65-73
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• 2023

In this paper, we present an optimal control strategy to prevent the EMT process by downregulating the level of overexpressed β-catenin in the cytoplasm. To do this, we propose a mathematical model that expresses relationship between the Wnt signaling pathway and TGF-β in cancer cells. We also define an optimal control problem considering the side effects that occur simultaneously with the method for controlling the concentration of β-catenin. Finally numerical simulations show that treatment effect is quantitatively changes depending on the concentration of core proteins of the Wnt signaling pathway.

• BMB Reports
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• 제49권8호
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• pp.403-404
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• 2016

The Wnt/β-catenin signaling is an evolutionarily conserved pathway that plays a pivotal role in embryonic development and adult homeostasis. However, we have limited information about the involvement of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in the lymphatic vascular system that regulates fluid homeostasis by absorbing interstitial fluid and returning it to blood circulation. In this recent publication we report that canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling is highly active and critical for the formation of lymphovenus valves (LVVs) and lymphatic valves (LVs). β-catenin directly associates with the regulatory elements of the lymphedema-associated transcription factor, FOXC2 and activates its expression in an oscillatory shear stress (OSS)-dependent manner. The phenotype of β-catenin null embryos was rescued by FOXC2 overexpression. These results suggest that Wnt/β-catenin signaling is a mechanotransducer that links fluid force with lymphatic vascular development.