title: Axin, a negative regulator of the Wnt signaling pathway, forms a complex with GSK-3beta and beta-catenin and promotes GSK-3beta-dependent phosphorylation of beta-catenin.
abstract: Glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) mediates epidermal growth factor, insulin and Wnt signals to various downstream events such as glycogen metabolism, gene expression, proliferation and differentiation. We have isolated here a GSK-3beta-interacting protein from a rat brain cDNA library using a yeast two-hybrid method. This protein consists of 832 amino acids and possesses Regulators of G protein Signaling (RGS) and dishevelled (Dsh) homologous domains in its N- and C-terminal regions, respectively. The predicted amino acid sequence of this GSK-3beta-interacting protein shows 94% identity with mouse Axin, which recently has been identified as a negative regulator of the Wnt signaling pathway; therefore, we termed this protein rAxin (rat Axin). rAxin interacted directly with, and was phosphorylated by, GSK-3beta. rAxin also interacted directly with the armadillo repeats of beta-catenin. The binding site of rAxin for GSK-3beta was distinct from the beta-catenin-binding site, and these three proteins formed a ternary complex. Furthermore, rAxin promoted GSK-3beta-dependent phosphorylation of beta-catenin. These results suggest that rAxin negatively regulates the Wnt signaling pathway by interacting with GSK-3beta and beta-catenin and mediating the signal from GSK-3beta to beta-catenin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Hiroshima University School of Medicine, 1-2-3, Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima 734-8551, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kishida
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Murai
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koyama
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kikuchi
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D060466:Axin Protein; D001921:Brain; D019556:COS Cells; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D038362:Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3; D038341:Glycogen Synthase Kinases; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011485:Protein Binding; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D015534:Trans-Activators; D051153:Wnt Proteins; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; D051176:beta Catenin
chemical_list: D060466:Axin Protein; C495268:Ctnnb1 protein, rat; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D011506:Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D051153:Wnt Proteins; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; D051176:beta Catenin; D038341:Glycogen Synthase Kinases; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases; D038362:Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3