title: Protein phosphatase 2A is essential to maintain active Wnt signaling and its Aβ tumor suppressor subunit is not expressed in colon cancer cells.
abstract: Canonical Wnt signaling is altered in most cases of colorectal cancer. Experimental evidence indicates that protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) may play either positive or negative roles in Wnt signaling but its precise in vivo functions remain elusive. In this work, using colon cultured cell lines we showed that basal PP2A activity is markedly reduced in malignant cells compared to non-malignant counterparts. We found that whereas normal or cancer cells displaying not altered Wnt signaling express mRNAs coding for PP2A-A scaffold α and β isoforms, cancer cells which have altered Wnt signaling do not express the Aβ isoform mRNA. Remarkably, we found that the Aβ protein levels are lost in all colon cancer cells, and in patients' tumor biopsies. In addition, all cancer cells exhibit higher levels of RalA activity, compared to non-malignant cells. Rescue experiments to restore Aβ expression in malignant RKO cells, diminished the RalGTPase activation and cell proliferation, indicating that the Aβ isoform acts as tumor suppressor in colon cancer cells. Reciprocal co-immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence studies showed that the PP2A-C and -Aα subunits, expressed in all colon cells, interact in vivo with β-catenin only in malignant cells. Selective inhibition of PP2A did not significantly affect cellular apoptosis but induced dose-dependent negative effects in β-catenin-mediated transcriptional activity and in cell proliferation of malignant cells, indicating that the residual PP2A activity found in malignant cells, mediated by -C and Aα core subunits, is essential to maintain active Wnt signaling and cell proliferation in colon cancer cells.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico D.F., Mexico.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carmen Figueroa-Aldariz
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico D.F., Mexico.
authors.forename: M Cristina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Castañeda-Patlán
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico D.F., Mexico.
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Santoyo-Ramos
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Mexico D.F., Mexico.
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zentella
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico D.F., Mexico.
authors.forename: Martha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Robles-Flores
mesh_terms: D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases / Q000235:genetics; D019073:HT29 Cells; D006801:Humans; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000235:genetics; D054648:Protein Phosphatase 2 / Q000235:genetics*; D021122:Protein Subunits / Q000235:genetics*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D060449:Wnt Signaling Pathway / Q000235:genetics*; D051176:beta Catenin / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D020033:Protein Isoforms; D021122:Protein Subunits; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D051176:beta Catenin; D054648:Protein Phosphatase 2; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases
keywords: PP2A-A subunit; colon cancer; protein phosphatase 2A; tumor suppressor; wnt signaling