Regulation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling by CCAAT/enhancer binding protein β during adipogenesis

Obesity (Silver Spring). 2012 Mar;20(3):482-7. doi: 10.1038/oby.2011.212. Epub 2011 Jul 14.

Abstract

Activation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway inhibits adipogenesis, while disruption of Wnt signaling leads to spontaneous adipogenesis. CCAAT/enhancer binding protein β (C/EBPβ) is rapidly induced in early stages of adipogenesis and is responsible for transcriptional induction of two major adipogenic transcription factors, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) and C/EBPα. In this study, we examined whether C/EBPβ is involved in the suppression of Wnt/β-catenin signaling during adipogenesis. Knockdown of C/EBPβ expression not only inhibited adipogenesis but also maintained active Wnt/β-catenin signaling, after addition of adipogenic inducers. In contrast, overexpression of C/EBPβ substantially inhibited Wnt signaling. Interestingly, our data showed that C/EBPβ is involved in the expression of Wnt10b, a major Wnt ligand in preadipocytes, even though C/EBPβ is not an essential factor to regulate Wnt10b expression during adipogenesis, and that C/EBPβ inhibits Wnt10b promoter activity by directly binding to specific regions of the promoter. These results suggest a dual function of C/EBPβ: stimulating expression of adipogenic genes and inhibiting Wnt signaling.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adipocytes / metabolism*
  • Adipogenesis* / genetics
  • Blotting, Western
  • CCAAT-Enhancer-Binding Protein-beta / genetics
  • CCAAT-Enhancer-Binding Protein-beta / metabolism*
  • Cell Differentiation
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Humans
  • PPAR gamma / genetics
  • PPAR gamma / metabolism*
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins / genetics
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins / metabolism*
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Signal Transduction
  • Wnt Proteins / genetics
  • Wnt Proteins / metabolism*
  • Wnt Signaling Pathway* / genetics

Substances

  • CCAAT-Enhancer-Binding Protein-beta
  • PPAR gamma
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins
  • WNT10B protein, human
  • Wnt Proteins