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β‐catenin as a potential key target for tumor suppression
Author(s) -
Fu Yuejun,
Zheng Shuhua,
An Na,
Athanasopoulos Takis,
Popplewell Linda,
Liang Aihua,
Li Ke,
Hu Changchen,
Zhu Yajing
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.26102
Subject(s) - key (lock) , catenin , medicine , cancer research , biology , computer science , microbiology and biotechnology , wnt signaling pathway , signal transduction , computer security
β‐catenin is a multifunctional protein identified to be pivotal in embryonic patterning, organogenesis and adult homeostasis. It plays a critical structural role in mediating cadherin junctions and is also an essential transcriptional co‐activator in the canonical Wnt pathway. Evidence has been documented that both the canonical Wnt pathway and cadherin junctions are deregulated or impaired in a plethora of human malignancies. In the light of this, there has been a recent surge in elucidating the mechanisms underlying the etiology of cancer development from the perspective of β‐catenin. Here, we focus on the emerging roles of β‐catenin in the process of tumorigenesis by discussing novel functions of old players and new proteins, mechanisms identified to mediate or interact with β‐catenin and the most recently unraveled clinical implications of β‐catenin regulatory pathways toward tumor suppression.