Suppression of multidrug resistance by rosiglitazone treatment in human ovarian cancer cells through downregulation of FZD1 and MDR1 genes
ANTI-CANCER DRUGS
Authors: Zhang, Hui; Jing, Xuanxuan; Wu, Xiaojuan; Hu, Jing; Zhang, Xiaofang; Wang, Xiao; Su, Peng; Li, Weiwei; Zhou, Gengyin
Abstract
Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a major obstacle in the successful treatment of ovarian cancer. One of the most common causes of MDR is overexpression of P-glycoprotein (P-gp), encoded by the MDR1 gene. The MDR1 gene is a direct target of the Wnt/-catenin signaling pathway, which plays an important role in ovarian cancer. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) ligands have been found to protect against development of cancer through the Wnt/-catenin pathway. To investigate the effect of PPAR ligands on MDR1/P-gp expression, we treated a MDR ovarian cancer cell subline, A2780/Taxol, with different concentrations of rosiglitazone (Rosi), a member of the synthetic PPAR ligands. Rosi downregulated FZD1 and MDR1/P-gp expression in a concentration-dependent manner. In addition, nuclear -catenin levels and its transcriptional activity decreased significantly. In conclusion, Rosi may reverse MDR of ovarian cancer cells by downregulating the Wnt/-catenin pathway with the suppression of FZD1.
Zonal expression of dickkopf-3 and components of the Wnt signalling pathways in the human adrenal cortex
JOURNAL OF ENDOCRINOLOGY
Authors: Suwa, T; Chen, M; Hawks, CL; Hornsby, PJ
Abstract
The mechanisms underlying the differentation of the adrenal cortex into zones are unclear. Microarray studies on RNA from microdissected zona reticularis (ZR) and zona fasciculata/zona glomerulosa (ZF/ZG) derived from adult human adrenal glands showed that a gene of the dickkopf family (DKK), DKK3, is differentially expressed in the zones. The Dickkopf proteins are morphogens involved in Wnt signalling. Northern blotting showed higher DKK3 transcript levels in ZF/ZG than ZR samples. hi situ hybridization on adult human adrenal gland sections showed that DKK3 expression was much higher in the ZG than in the ZF or ZR. DKK3 expression was also higher in the medulla. We screened for expression of other members of the DKK family and the related Wingless-type mouse mammary tumor virus integration site gene family (WNT), frizzled (FZD), and dishevelled (DVL) gene families. Among dickkopf family members, only DKK3 was expressed at a detectable level in both human and mouse adrenocortical RNA samples. Consistent with previously published data on the effects of Wnt4 gene disruption in the mouse, we found only WNT4 expression within the WNT family in both human and mouse RNA. Northern blotting showed that WNT4 was expressed at a higher level in ZF/ZG cells than in ZR. The higher level of DKK3 and WNT4 expression in ZF/ZG cells was confirmed by real-time PCR. In the frizzled and dishevelled families we found FZD1, FZD2 and DVL3 transcripts in human adrenocortical RNA, and FZD2 and DVL3 in mouse adrenocortical RNA. These data show that a variety of genes of the Wnt signalling pathways are expressed in the adrenal cortex. The zonal distribution of DKK3 expression suggests that it could be involved in zonal differentiation or growth.