Wnt growth factors are lipid-modified, secreted proteins that are essential for the development of multicellular organisms by specifying cell fate during embryogenesis and the renewal of tissues in the adult. In the canonical pathway, Wnts activate target genes that control cellular proliferation through the transcriptional co-activator?-catenin. Our goal is to define the molecular mechanisms that transduce the binding of a Wnt to its cell surface co-receptors Frizzled (Fzd) and LRP5/6 into stabilization of ?-catenin. Rationale In the absence of Wnts, ?-catenin is bound in a destruction complex that includes the scaffolding protein Axin and the kinases GSK-3 and CK1; phosphorylation of ?-catenin by CK1 and GSK-3 leads to its ubiquitylation and destruction by the proteasome. Wnt binding to Fzd and LRP5/6 enables Fzd to recruit the cytoplasmic protein Dishevelled (Dvl), which in turn binds to Axin and thereby recruits the destruction complex to the activated receptor complex. This leads to phosphorylation of the LRP5/6 intracellular domain (ICD), which inhibits ?-catenin destruction. Understanding this process is an important biomedical problem, as components of this pathway are mutated in a large number of cancers, which leads to inappropriately stabilized ?-catenin and uncontrolled cellular proliferation. Strategy. We address two unsolved, fundamental mechanistic questions, using biochemical and biophysical assays with purified pathway components: 1) How do Wnts promote the Fzd-Dvl interaction? 2) How does phosphorylation of the LRP6 tail inhibit ?-catenin destruction? Aim 1 examines the coupling of ligand and Dvl binding to Fzd, using Norrin, a Fzd4 ligand specific to a ?-catenin-mediated signaling pathway. Quantitative affinity measurements will be used to test whether there is allosteric coupling between ligand and Dvl binding to Fzd (Aim 1a), whether LRP6 (Aim 1b) or Dvl phosphorylation (Aim 1c) promotes this coupling, and whether Dvl phosphorylation promotes its interactions with Axin (Aim 1c).
Aim 2 tests proposed mechanisms of LRP6 ICD phosphorylation and how it inhibits ?-catenin phosphorylation.
Aim 2 a defines the mechanism of LRP6 ICD phosphorylation by GSK-3 and CK1, and how phosphorylation affects the affinity of the LRP6 ICD for Axin.
Aim 2 b tests recently described models of Axin autoinhibition, in which intramolecular interactions inhibit binding of Axin to LRP6 and to ?-catenin, and are relieved by GSK-3 phosphoryation. This sub-Aim also tests whether Axin and ?-catenin compete for phosphorylated Axin.
Aim 2 c tests whether LRP6 inhibition of GSK-3 is kinetically sufficient to allow ?-catenin to escape from the destruction complex. Outcomes. The mechanistic insights derived from these studies promise to inform development of therapeutics needed to control the pathway in cancers and other diseases.
Wnts are secreted proteins that are essential for the development of multicellular organisms by specifying cell fate during embryogenesis and the renewal of tissues in the adult. This proposal aims to define the molecular mechanisms that transmit Wnt signals across the cell membrane to trigger activation of target genes. The information from these studies could provide a foundation for rational, efficient development of therapeutic agents to control inappropriate Wnt signaling in a number of cancers.
