Wnt signaling through the canonical a-catenin pathway controls cell fate determination and cell proliferation, and is essential for animal development. Defective Wnt/b-catenin signaling has been associated with human colorectal cancer, familial osteoporosis, and other diseases. Thus understanding Wnt/b-catenin signaling is highly relevant to human health. Wnt/b-catenin signaling is initiated by 2 distinct families of cell surface receptors. One (1) is a member of the Frizzled (Fz) family of serpentine receptors, and the other is a single transmembrane receptor of the LDL receptor related protein family, LRP5 or LRP6. How Wnt leads to the activation of these receptors is a critical but poorly understood issue. Dr. He's group showed that Fz and LRP5/6 form a Wnt-inducible co-receptor complex in vitro, and that LRP6 plays a key role in the signaling process. They recently discovered that phosphorylation likely underlies LRP6 activation. They found that a PPP(S/T)P motif, which is reiterated 5 times in the intracellular domain of LRP5/6, is essential for LRP6 signaling function. They demonstrated that phosphorylation of this PPP(S/T)P motif is required for signaling and for binding/recognition by Axin, a key scaffolding protein that regulates b-catenin stability. They further showed that Wnt induces LRP6 phosphorylation in vivo. These results suggest that Wnt activates transmembrane signaling via inducing LRP6 phosphorylation. In this application, 3 specific aims are designed to substantiate/extend this working model. (1) To characterize fully all five PPP(S/T)P motifs in LRP6 intracellular domain. Issues to be addressed include the function of these PPP(S/T)P motifs and whether their differential phosphorylation controls LRP6 signaling. (2) To investigate Axin interaction with the phosphorylated PPP(S/T)P motifs.
The aim i s to identify the Axin domain/module that recognizes PPP(S/T)P phosphorylation, and examine whether LRP6-Axin association alters the composition of the Axin complex, thereby governing b-catenin stability. (3) To identify kinase (or kinases) that phosphorylates the PPP(S/T)P motif.
This aim i s to investigate known kinases implicated in Wnt/a-catenin signaling for their potential roles in PPP(S/T)P phosphorylation and to isolate the PPP(S/T)P kinase or kinases via several complementary approaches. These experiments will significantly enhance the understanding of Wnt receptor activation and Wnt signal transduction in development and disease.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01GM074241-03
Application #
7213426
Study Section
Development - 1 Study Section (DEV)
Program Officer
Anderson, Richard A
Project Start
2005-04-01
Project End
2009-03-31
Budget Start
2007-04-01
Budget End
2008-03-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2007
Total Cost
$280,425
Indirect Cost
Name
Children's Hospital Boston
Department
Type
DUNS #
076593722
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02115
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Zhang, Xinjun; He, Xi (2013) PAF makes it EZ(H2) for ?-catenin transactivation. Mol Cell 52:157-8
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Bienz, Mariann; He, Xi (2012) Biochemistry. A lipid linchpin for Wnt-Fz docking. Science 337:44-5
MacDonald, Bryan T; He, Xi (2012) A finger on the pulse of Wnt receptor signaling. Cell Res 22:1410-2
MacDonald, Bryan T; He, Xi (2012) Frizzled and LRP5/6 receptors for Wnt/?-catenin signaling. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 4:
Xu, Yufei; Xu, Chao; Kato, Akiko et al. (2012) Tet3 CXXC domain and dioxygenase activity cooperatively regulate key genes for Xenopus eye and neural development. Cell 151:1200-13
Chen, Shuo; Bubeck, Doryen; MacDonald, Bryan T et al. (2011) Structural and functional studies of LRP6 ectodomain reveal a platform for Wnt signaling. Dev Cell 21:848-61

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