Wnt signaling and mammary tumorigenesis.
Wnt expression patterns during mammary development support a role for Wnts in breast development and in mammary epithelial responses to systemic hormones. The deregulation of Wnt signaling also plays a role in breast cancer. Activation of the Wnt signaling pathway is a major feature of several human neoplasias and appears to lead to the cytosolic stabilization of a transcriptional co-factor, beta-catenin. This co-activator can then regulate transcription from a number of target genes including the cellular oncogenes cyclin D1 and c-myc. This review will summarize the current state of knowledge of Wnt signal transduction in a range of model systems and will then address the role of Wnts and Wnt signaling in mammary development and cancer.
Smalley
M J
MJ
CRC Centre for Cell and Molecular Biology, Institute of Cancer Research, London, United Kingdom.
Dale
T C
TC
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015674:Mammary Neoplasms, Animal / Q000378:metabolism*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D051153:Wnt Proteins; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins
D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D051153:Wnt Proteins; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins