title: Notch3 activation modulates cell growth behaviour and cross-talk to Wnt/TCF signalling pathway.
abstract: Notch3 is one of the four Notch receptors identified in mammal and expressed mainly in the arterial smooth muscle cells of human adult. Signalling via Notch3 is thought to be important in maintaining the phenotypic stability of the cells, but the nature of the signalling and its regulation to other signalling pathways are largely unknown. To understand further of the cellular function of Notch3 signalling, we generated cell lines stably expressing a constitutively active form of human Notch3 comprising of its soluble intracellular domain (N3IC). The N3IC expressing cells showed accelerated proliferation, decreased migration, increased cell surface N-cadherin, and growth in a colonised fashion that was reversible by N-cadherin blockade. N3IC expressing cells were also protected significantly against staurosporine-induced apoptosis and exhibited lower caspase 3/7 activity, accompanied by up-regulation of pAKT compared to control cells. We also found a complex cross-talk between Notch3 signalling and the Wnt pathway. N3IC stimulated Wnt-independent T-cell factor (TCF, the target transcription factor in the Wnt pathway) activation which was associated with increased Tyr-142 phosphorylation of beta-catenin. In contrast N3IC suppressed TCF activation in response to LiCl, which mimics the Wnt-dependent TCF activation mechanism. We conclude that Notch3 promotes cell growth and survival by activating PI3-kinase/AKT pathway; N-cadherin participates in the change of cell growth caused by Notch3 activation; and Notch3 signalling has dual-effects on the Wnt/TCF pathway suggesting a buffering role that Notch3 signalling may play in balancing these two important signalling pathways in regulating cell function.
authors.affiliation: Medical Genetics Research Group and Centre for Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Human Sciences, The University of Manchester, United Kingdom. tao.wang@manchester.ac.uk
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Cathy M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Holt
authors.forename: Chiheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ridley
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: P O Jones
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baron
authors.forename: Dorothy
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Trump
mesh_terms: D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000378:metabolism; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D053179:Caspase 7 / Q000378:metabolism; D002460:Cell Line; D002465:Cell Movement; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006801:Humans; D018021:Lithium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D010766:Phosphorylation; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000378:metabolism; D000071656:Receptor, Notch3; D051880:Receptors, Notch / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D019311:Staurosporine / Q000494:pharmacology; D051820:TCF Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D013997:Time Factors; D014162:Transfection; D051153:Wnt Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051176:beta Catenin / Q000378:metabolism