Wnt signalling gets XEEKy

Recent progress on liver kinase B1 (LKB1): expression, regulation, downstream signaling and cancer suppressive function

Liver kinase B1 (LKB1), known as a serine/threonine kinase, has been identified as a critical cancer suppressor in many cancer cells. It is a master upstream kinase of 13 AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-related protein kinases, and possesses versatile biological functions. LKB1 gene is mutated in many cancers, and its protein can form different protein complexes with different cellular localizations in various cell types. The expression of LKB1 can be regulated through epigenetic modification, transcriptional regulation and post-translational modification. LKB1 dowcnstream pathways mainly include AMPK, microtubule affinity regulating kinase (MARK), salt-inducible kinase (SIK), sucrose non-fermenting protein-related kinase (SNRK) and brain selective kinase (BRSK) signalings, etc. This review, therefore, mainly discusses recent studies about the expression, regulation, downstream signaling and cancer suppressive function of LKB1, which can be helpful for better understanding of this molecular and its significance in cancers.

Polarity proteins in axon specification and synaptogenesis

The neuron is a prime example of a highly polarized cell. It is becoming clear that conserved protein complexes, which have been shown to regulate polarity in such diverse systems as the C. elegans zygote and mammalian epithelia, are also required for neuronal polarization. This review considers the role of these polarity proteins in axon specification and synaptogenesis.

Effects of secreted frizzled-related protein 3 on osteoblasts in vitro

To examine if sFRP3s act as decoy receptors for Wnt, we examined the effects of recombinant sFRP3 on mouse osteoblast proliferation and differentiation. We found that sFRP3 unexpectedly increased osteoblast differentiation, suggesting it may act through other mechanisms besides acting as a decoy receptor for Wnt's.

INTRODUCTION

Secreted frizzled-related proteins (sFRPs) are a truncated form of frizzled receptor, missing both the transmembrane and cytosolic domains. Because previous studies have shown that sFRPs bind and act as decoy receptors for Wnt proteins that promote osteoblast differentiation, we postulated that sFRP3 acts as an inhibitor of osteoblast differentiation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We examined the effects of mouse recombinant sFRP3 and/or Wnt-3A on cell proliferation and differentiation using MC3T3-E1 mouse osteoblasts and primary cultures of mouse bone marrow stromal cells. We evaluated the effects of sFRP3 on beta-catenin levels using Western immunoblot analyses.

RESULTS

We found that sFRP3 suppressed osteoblast cell number in a dose-dependent manner that was the result of a decrease in proliferation and not because of an increase in apoptosis. Surprisingly, sFRP3 increased osteoblast differentiation, which could not be explained based on sFRP3 acting as a decoy receptor for stimulatory Wnt's. Furthermore, sFRP3 did not inhibit Wnt3A-induced increase in alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity. Wnt3A, but not sFRP3 treatment, increased cellular beta-catenin levels, and sFRP3 failed to block Wnt3A-induced increase in cellular beta-catenin levels. Treatment with endostatin, an agent known to degrade beta-catenin, did not inhibit sFRP3-induced increase in ALP activity. sFRP1, like sFRP3, inhibited proliferation and stimulated ALP activity in MC3T3-E1 mouse osteoblasts.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on our findings, we conclude that sFRP3 decreased osteoblast proliferation and unexpectedly increased parameters of osteoblast differentiation. Based on our findings, we propose that sFRP3 may stimulate differentiation through a beta-catenin-independent pathway in addition to its previously known function as a decoy receptor for Wnt's.