School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, U.K.
School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, U.K.
Biosci Rep. 2022 Apr 29;42(4). doi: 10.1042/BSR20211841.
Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is an aggressive disease of the bone marrow with a poor prognosis. Evidence suggests long established chemotherapeutic regimens used to treat AML are reaching the limits of their efficacy, necessitating the urgent development of novel targeted therapies. Canonical Wnt signalling is an evolutionary conserved cascade heavily implicated in normal developmental and disease processes in humans. For over 15 years its been known that the central mediator of this pathway, β-catenin, is dysregulated in AML promoting the emergence, maintenance, and drug resistance of leukaemia stem cells. Yet, despite this knowledge, and subsequent studies demonstrating the therapeutic potential of targeting Wnt activity in haematological cancers, β-catenin inhibitors have not yet reached the clinic. The aim of this review is to summarise the current understanding regarding the role and mechanistic dysregulation of β-catenin in AML, and assess the therapeutic merit of pharmacologically targeting this molecule, drawing on lessons from other disease contexts.
急性髓细胞白血病(AML)是一种侵袭性骨髓疾病,预后较差。有证据表明,长期以来用于治疗 AML 的既定化疗方案已经达到了疗效的极限,迫切需要开发新的靶向治疗方法。经典 Wnt 信号通路是一种进化上保守的级联反应,在人类的正常发育和疾病过程中起着重要作用。15 多年来,人们已经知道该途径的核心介质β-连环蛋白在 AML 中失调,促进白血病干细胞的出现、维持和耐药性。然而,尽管有了这些认识,以及随后的研究表明靶向血液癌症中 Wnt 活性具有治疗潜力,但β-连环蛋白抑制剂尚未进入临床应用。本综述的目的是总结目前对β-连环蛋白在 AML 中的作用和机制失调的理解,并借鉴其他疾病背景的经验,评估通过药理学靶向该分子的治疗价值。