Paracrine WNT5A signaling in healthy and neoplastic mammary tissue

David Kusner; Nicholas Borcherding; Weizhou Zhang

doi:10.1080/23723556.2015.1040145

Paracrine WNT5A signaling in healthy and neoplastic mammary tissue

Mol Cell Oncol. 2015 Jul 28;3(1):e1040145. doi: 10.1080/23723556.2015.1040145. eCollection 2016 Jan.

Authors

David Kusner¹, Nicholas Borcherding², Weizhou Zhang³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathology, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA; Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA.
² Department of Pathology, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA; Medical Science Training Program, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA; Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA.
³ Department of Pathology, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA; Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA; Medical Science Training Program, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA; Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA; Immunology Program, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA.

Abstract

Paracrine signaling between mammary epithelial cells has long been appreciated. Recently, we found that Wnt5a, a novel noncanonical Wnt ligand of luminal origin, counteracts canonical Wnt signaling in basal mammary epithelial cells through a paracrine pathway, inhibits the expansion of Erbb2-induced tumor-initiating cells, and suppresses tumor incidence and metastasis.

Keywords: Breast cancer; Noncanonical WNT; WNT5A signaling; mammary development.

Abstract

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