title: Overexpression of Pygopus2 protects HeLa cells from vinblastine-induced apoptosis.
abstract: Pygopus, a very important component of the Wnt signaling transcriptional complex, has multiple functions in both Wnt-dependent and -independent pathways. Human Pygopus2 (Pygo2) is expressed in many cancers and plays an important role in tumor growth. In the present study, we generated human carcinoma (HeLa) cell lines stably expressing Pygo2, which counteracts vinblastine- induced apoptosis. The anti-apoptotic function was determined by DNA fragmentation, sub-G1 appearance, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (Deltapsim) and the activation of caspase-9 and caspase-3. In addition, we found that Pygo2 effectively blocks vinblastineinduced c-Jun and AP-1 activation, maintains the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 in an unphosphorylated state, and thus can render cells resistant to apoptosis. However, Pygo2 does not alter the vinblastine-induced cell cycle changes. Here, we describe an anti-apoptotic activity exerted by Pygo2 through blocking activation of the JNK/AP-1 signaling pathway induced by vinblastine.
authors.affiliation: The State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Hubei, PR China.
authors.forename: Degejing
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: De
authors.forename: Apeng
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Songya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.forename: Guoqing
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Yipeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qi
mesh_terms: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D053453:Caspase 9 / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D017353:Gene Deletion; D015870:Gene Expression; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects; D014747:Vinblastine / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; C453401:PYGO2 protein, human; D014747:Vinblastine; D053148:Caspase 3; D053453:Caspase 9