Mitotic wnt signaling promotes protein stabilization and regulates cell size.

Sergio P Acebron, Emil Karaulanov, Birgit S Berger, Ya-Lin Huang, Christof Niehrs

Molecular cell 2014 May 22

filter terms:

Canonical Wnt signaling is thought to regulate cell behavior mainly by inducing β-catenin-dependent transcription of target genes. In proliferating cells Wnt signaling peaks in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle, but the significance of this "mitotic Wnt signaling" is unclear. Here we introduce Wnt-dependent stabilization of proteins (Wnt/STOP), which is independent of β-catenin and peaks during mitosis. We show that Wnt/STOP plays a critical role in protecting proteins, including c-MYC, from GSK3-dependent polyubiquitination and degradation. Wnt/STOP signaling increases cellular protein levels and cell size. Wnt/STOP, rather than β-catenin signaling, is the dominant mode of Wnt signaling in several cancer cell lines, where it is required for cell growth. We propose that Wnt/STOP signaling slows down protein degradation as cells prepare to divide. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Citation

Sergio P Acebron, Emil Karaulanov, Birgit S Berger, Ya-Lin Huang, Christof Niehrs. Mitotic wnt signaling promotes protein stabilization and regulates cell size. Molecular cell. 2014 May 22;54(4):663-74