TOPflash Activity Research Articles

Wnt10b induces chemotaxis of osteosarcoma and correlates with reduced survival

Osteosarcoma (OS) is a primary malignant tumor of the bone that typically presents in the second decade of life and has a poor prognosis, especially in metastatic cases. Wnt signaling contributes to the pathogenesis of tumors such as colon cancer and malignant melanoma. Wnt signaling controls normal bone formation during embryogenesis and homeostasis in adult organisms, thus we evaluated Wnt signaling in OS. We surveyed the expression of Wnts, their receptors, Frizzleds and LRPs, and soluble Wnt inhibitors (sFRPs) in four OS cell lines by RT-PCR. We also tested biological response of OS cell lines to exogenous Wnts by measuring beta-catenin stabilization, Dvl phosphorylation, TOPFLASH activity and chemotaxis. Human OS tumor microarrays were evaluated for expression of Wnt10b by immunohistochemistry. All cell lines tested showed expression of at least three Wnts and one Frizzled. Exogenous Wnt3a and Wnt10b treatment induced Dvl phosphorylation, beta-catenin stabilization and TCF4 transcriptional activity in both metastatic and non-metastatic murine OS cell lines. Metastatic OS cell lines showed better chemotaxis response to Wnts than the non-metastatic OS cell lines. Immunohistochemistry studies of 44 human OS samples demonstrated that Wnt10b expression correlated with decreased overall survival. These results further supports a possible autocrine or paracrine Wnt pathway in metastatic potential of OS.

Targeting Wnt Signaling in Myeloma In Vivo; Differential Effects on Tumor Burden and Myeloma Bone Disease.

Multiple myeloma is characterized by uncontrolled proliferation of myeloma cells within the bone marrow and the development of a severe osteolytic bone disease. In addition to a well characterized increase in osteoclastic bone resorption, myeloma bone disease is associated with a reduction in bone formation. Osteoblast differentiation and bone formation are regulated in vivo by canonical Wnt signaling and activation of β-catenin. Therefore increasing Wnt signaling in the bone microenvironment in multiple myeloma may prevent the development of myeloma bone disease. In support of this, we have previously demonstrated that activation of Wnt signaling with lithium chloride (LiCl) in the 5TGM1 murine model of myeloma reduces tumor burden and osteolytic bone disease. However, we also found that LiCl treatment increased subcutaneous (s.c.) tumor growth. This suggests that the reduction in tumor burden within the bone microenvironment may be an indirect effect mediated through the effects of LiCl to prevent myeloma bone disease. The aim of the current study was to determine the effect of specific molecular blockade of Wnt signaling in myeloma cells in vivo. 5TGM1-GFP myeloma cells were transfected by electroporation with either myc-tagged dominant negative TCF4 (DNTCF4) or pcDNA. Following stable selection by culture in G418, expression of DNTCF4 was confirmed by western blot for myc. No difference was found in the growth rates of 5TGM1-pcDNA or 5TGM1-DNTCF4 in vitro. Treatment with LiCl or Wnt3A had no significant effect on cell viability in vitro, but significantly increased β-catenin activity, as measured by TOPFLASH activity in 5TGM1-pcDNA cells. This increase was not observed in 5TGM1-DNTCF4, confirming that expression of DNTCF4 blocked Wnt signaling induced by LiCl in 5TGM1 myeloma cells. C57Bl/KaLwRij mice were inoculated with 5TGM1-pcDNA or 5TGM1-DNTCF4 cells by either intravenous (i.v.) or s.c. injection. Mice were treated from time of tumor cell inoculation with 200mg/kg/day LiCl or vehicle control (d.H20) by oral gavage for 28 days. I.v. inoculation of myeloma cells resulted in a significant increase in serum IgG2bκ concentrations and the proportion of GFP-positive cells in the bone marrow. A significant reduction in trabecular bone volume was also observed. MicroCT analysis of the tibia demonstrated that LiCl significantly increased trabecular bone volume in both 5TGM1-pcDNA and 5TGM1-DNTCF4 myeloma-bearing mice. LiCl significantly decreased serum IgG2bκ concentrations in both 5TGM1-pcDNA and 5TGM1-DNTCF4 myeloma-bearing mice, with a greater effect in 5TGM1-DNTCF4 myeloma-bearing mice. FACS analysis of GFP-positive cells demonstrated that LiCl significantly reduced tumor burden in the bone marrow in both 5TGM1-pcDNA and 5TGM1-DNTCF4 myeloma-bearing mice. However, following s.c inoculation, LiCl significantly increased s.c. tumor volume of 5TGM1-pcDNA tumors, but had no effect on 5TGM1-DNTCF4 s.c. tumor volume. Taken together these results demonstrate that the effect of increasing Wnt signaling in myeloma is dependent upon the microenvironment. By specific inhibition of β-catenin activity in myeloma cells combined with systemic stimulation of the Wnt signaling pathway, our results suggest that increasing Wnt signaling in myeloma in vivo has dual effects; firstly to enhance myeloma growth directly, and secondly to enhance osteoblast differentiation and thus indirectly reduce tumor burden in bone, highlighting the importance of the bone marrow microenvironment in regulating myeloma growth and survival.

Transforming Growth Factor-β and Wnt Signals Regulate Chondrocyte Differentiation through Twist1 in a Stage-Specific Manner

We investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying the transition between immature and mature chondrocytes downstream of TGF-beta and canonical Wnt signals. We used two developmentally distinct chondrocyte models isolated from the caudal portion of embryonic chick sternum or chick growth plates. Lower sternal chondrocytes exhibited immature phenotypic features, whereas growth plate-extracted cells displayed a hypertrophic phenotype. TGF-beta significantly induced beta-catenin in immature chondrocytes, whereas it repressed it in mature chondrocytes. TGF-beta further enhanced canonical Wnt-mediated transactivation of the Topflash reporter expression in lower sternal chondrocytes. However, it inhibited Topflash activity in a time-dependent manner in growth plate chondrocytes. Our immunoprecipitation experiments showed that TGF-beta induced Sma- and Mad-related protein 3 interaction with T-cell factor 4 in immature chondrocytes, whereas it inhibited this interaction in mature chondrocytes. Similar results were observed by chromatin immunoprecipitation showing that TGF-beta differentially shifts T-cell factor 4 occupancy on the Runx2 promoter in lower sternal chondrocytes vs. growth plate chondrocytes. To further determine the molecular switch between immature and hypertrophic chondrocytes, we assessed the expression and regulation of Twist1 and Runx2 in both cell models upon treatment with TGF-beta and Wnt3a. We show that Runx2 and Twist1 are differentially regulated during chondrocyte maturation. Furthermore, whereas TGF-beta induced Twist1 in mature chondrocytes, it inhibited Runx2 expression in these cells. Opposite effects were observed upon Wnt3a treatment, which predominates over TGF-beta effects on these cells. Finally, overexpression of chick Twist1 in mature chondrocytes dramatically inhibited their hypertrophy. Together, our findings show that Twist1 may be an important regulator of chondrocyte progression toward terminal maturation in response to TGF-beta and canonical Wnt signaling.

TGF-β modulates β-Catenin stability and signaling in mesenchymal proliferations

Here for the first time we showed, despite the oncogenic mutations in β-Catenin, that TGF-β is a modulator of β-Catenin levels in tumoral fibroblasts as well as non-tumoral fibroblasts. The results show that the TGF-β pathway is active in desmoids cells and in in situ tumors. A dose dependent increase in β-Catenin protein levels was observed after TGF-β treatment in combination with an increased repression of GSK-3β both in normal and tumoral fibroblasts. TGF-β stimulation also led to an altered – up to 5 fold – transcriptional activity of β-Catenin responsive promoters, such as IGFBP6 as well as increase of TOPflash activity. TGF-β stimulation increased cell proliferation and BrdU incorporation 2.5 times. Taken together, we propose that TGF-β is a modulator of β-Catenin levels in tumoral fibroblasts and non-tumoral fibroblasts, despite the oncogenic mutations already present in this gene in tumoral fibroblasts of desmoid tumors. This modulation of β-Catenin levels by TGF-β may be involved in determining the tumoral phenotype of the cells.

SOX6 Suppresses Cyclin D1 Promoter Activity by Interacting with β-Catenin and Histone Deacetylase 1, and Its Down-regulation Induces Pancreatic β-Cell Proliferation

Sex-determining region Y-box (SOX) 6 negatively regulates glucose-stimulated insulin secretion from beta-cells and is a down-regulated transcription factor in the pancreatic islet cells of hyperinsulinemic obese mice. To determine the contribution of SOX6 to insulin resistance, we analyzed the effects of SOX6 on cell proliferation. Small interfering RNA-mediated attenuation of SOX6 expression stimulated the proliferation of insulinoma INS-1E and NIH-3T3 cells, whereas retroviral overexpression resulted in inhibition of cell growth. Quantitative real time-PCR analysis revealed that the levels of cyclin D1 transcripts were markedly decreased by SOX6 overexpression. Luciferase-reporter assay with beta-catenin showed that SOX6 suppresses cyclin D1 promoter activities. In vitro binding experiments showed that the LZ/Q domain of SOX6 physically interacts with armadillo repeats 1-4 of beta-catenin. Furthermore, chromatin immunoprecipitation assay revealed that increased SOX6 expression significantly reduced the levels of acetylated histones H3 and H4 at the cyclin D1 promoter. By using a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor and co-immunoprecipitation analysis, we showed that SOX6 suppressed cyclin D1 activities by interacting withbeta-catenin and HDAC1. The data presented suggest that SOX6 may be an important factor in obesity-related insulin resistance.

TLE Corepressors as Novel Candidate AML Tumor Suppressor Genes That Regulate Wnt Signaling, Cell Cycle Progression, and Myeloid Differentiation.

Deletion of the long arm of chromosome 9, del(9q), is one of the most common mutations associated with t(8;21) AML. Up to 50% of del(9q) AML is seen in association with t(8;21). The Runx1-ETO (AML1-ETO) fusion gene produced by t(8;21) is insufficient for leukemogenesis and loss of a critical gene(s) on chr9q apparently cooperates in leukemogenesis. We recently identified two members of the Groucho family of co-repressors, Transducin-like enhancer of split (TLE) 1 and TLE4, as candidate tumor suppressor genes, based on our mapping of the commonly deleted region in del(9q) AML. These proteins are known to inhibit Wnt signaling which has been implicated in hematopoietic stem cell renewal and they interact with hematopoietic transcription factors such as Runx1 and Pu.1. We have demonstrated that the expression of these two genes is specifically repressed in both del(9q) and t(8;21) AML samples. Knockdown of TLE1 or TLE4 mRNA using specific small interfering RNAs (siRNA) activates Wnt signaling in 293T cells as measured by TOPFLASH activity, while forced expression of TLE1 or 4 inhibits TOPFLASH. We show that siRNA against TLE4 using a specific siRNA increased cell cycle progression and cell division, while over-expression of TLE1 or TLE4 slowed cell cycle progression and lead to a pronounced growth disadvantage in THP-1 and HL60 myeloid cell lines. In addition to these effects on cell proliferation, these genes also affected myeloid cell differentiation. Over-expression of either TLE1 or TLE4 in monocytic THP-1 and promyelocytic HL-60 cell lines initiated myeloid differentiation as monitored by CD11b expression. These two genes have different effects on more terminal myeloid differentiation as TLE4, but not TLE1, was able to induce more terminal differentiation of THP-1 cells into monocytes as measured by CD14 expression, while TLE1 was able to induce the granulocytic marker CD15 in HL-60 cells. Furthermore, lentiviral delivery of siRNAs for either TLE1 or TLE4 to HL-60 cells inhibited induction of granulocytic and monocytic differentiation with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) or 1,25-dihydroxycholechalciferol (Vit.D3). TLE1 siRNA inhibited ATRA and Vit.D3 induced CD11b expression by more than 75%. While TLE4 siRNA decreased the induction of monocytic CD14 after Vit.D3 by 40%, TLE1 siRNA almost completely abrogated induction of CD14 with Vit.D3 or granulocytic CD15 with ATRA in HL-60 cells. Ex vivo culture of siRNA infected CD34 sorted human cord blood (CB) cells in semi-liquid media with differentiation inducing cytokines for seven days exhibited a decrease in the percentage of early CD33+ myeloid cells by 15% and 70% relative to controls in TLE1 and TLE4 siRNA infected CB cells, respectively. These results indicate that inhibition of TLE activity can promote cell cycle progression and inhibit myeloid differentiation. This study is the first to demonstrate a potential role for the TLEs in leukemogenesis and also indicates the TLEs may have non-redundant functions in myeloid differentiation. Understanding how various mutations work cooperatively to produce a malignant phenotype is one of the great challenges in oncology. The TLEs may represent an important cooperating mutation with Runx1-ETO in AML that links Wnt signaling and core binding protein transcription factors. Studies are currently underway to demonstrate this cooperativity.

β-Catenin/T-cell factor-mediated transcription is modulated by cell density in human bronchial epithelial cells

The embryonic Wnt/β-catenin (‘canonical’) pathway has been implicated in epithelial regeneration. To investigate the role of Wnt signal transduction in the airways, we characterised the expression of key pathway components in human bronchial epithelial cells (HBEC) and studied the influence of cell density on pathway activity, using sub-confluent cells in log-phase growth as a simple model of repairing epithelium. Primary HBEC and H292 bronchial epithelial cells were found to express TCF-4, TCF-3 and isoforms of LEF-1, transcription factors that are regulated by Wnt signalling. The cells also had the potential to respond to Wnt signalling through expression of several members of the Frizzled receptor family, including FZD-5 and -6. In confluent H292 cells, 20 mM lithium and 25% v/v Wnt-3a conditioned medium induced 4.5-fold ( p = 0.008) and 1.4-fold ( p = 0.006) increases in TOPflash activity, respectively. Under conditions of reduced cell density, TOPflash activity increased 1.8-fold ( p = 0.002) in association with increased nuclear localisation of hypophosphorylated (active) β-catenin and increased cell proliferation. This up-regulation in reporter activity occurred independently of EGF receptor activation and could not be recapitulated by use of low-calcium medium to disrupt cadherin-mediated cell–cell adhesion, but was associated with changes in FZD-6 expression. We conclude that reactivation of this embryonic pathway may play an important role in bronchial epithelial regeneration, and that modulation of Fzd-6 receptors may regulate Wnt signalling at confluence. Recognising that many chronic inflammatory disorders of the airways involve epithelial damage and repair, altered Wnt signalling might contribute to disease pathogenesis or progression.