Glypican-3 promotes the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma by stimulating canonical Wnt signaling.
Glypican-3 (GPC3) is a heparan sulfate proteoglycan that is bound to the cell membrane by a glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol anchor. GPC3 is expressed by most hepatocellular carcinomas but not by normal hepatocytes and benign liver lesions. We report here that GPC3 stimulates the in vitro and in vivo growth of hepatocellular carcinoma cells by increasing autocrine/paracrine canonical Wnt signaling. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments showed that GPC3 is able to form complexes with Wnts, and cell-binding assays indicated that GPC3-expressing cells have an increased capacity to bind Wnt. Collectively, these results suggest that GPC3 stimulates Wnt activity by facilitating the interaction of this polypeptide with its signaling receptors. Surprisingly, in contrast to the current model that proposes that Wnt-glypican binding is mediated by the heparan sulfate chains, we found that the nonglycanated GPC3 core protein can form complexes with Wnts. Furthermore, we showed that the glycosaminoglycan chains are not required for the stimulatory effect on Wnt signaling and hepatocellular carcinoma growth.
Capurro
Mariana I
MI
Division of Molecular and Cell Biology, Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre and Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Xiang
Yun-Yan
YY
Lobe
Corrinne
C
Filmus
Jorge
J
D000818:Animals; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D015870:Gene Expression; D053673:Glypicans; D006801:Humans; D047468:Immunoprecipitation; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D016513:Mice, SCID; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014162:Transfection; D051153:Wnt Proteins
C105937:GPC3 protein, human; D053673:Glypicans; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D051153:Wnt Proteins