Erdreich-Epstein A, Shackleford G M
Division of Hematology-Oncology, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, California 90027-6016, USA.
Growth Factors. 1998;15(2):149-58. doi: 10.3109/08977199809117190.
Wnt genes encode secreted growth factor-like proteins that participate in growth regulation, differentiation and tumorigenesis. Ectopic expression of Wnt1 converts the PC12 neural crest-derived rat pheochromocytoma cell line from a round phenotype that express chromaffin markers to flat adherent cells (termed PC12/Wnt1) that do not express them. A pool of spontaneously flat variants of PC12 cells (PC12/flat) is phenotypically similar to the PC12/Wnt1 cells, but does not express Wnt1. Here we describe the expression of 13 Wnt genes in wild type PC12, PC12/flat and PC12/Wnt1 cells. Wild type PC12 expressed Wnt3, Wnt3a, Wnt4, Wnt5a, Wnt6, Wnt10a and Wnt11. Compared with expression in wild type cells, both PC12/flat and PC12/Wnt1 cells lost most or all expression of Wnt3a and Wnt4 and gained expression of Wnt7b. Wnt5a and Wnt6 expression was higher in PC12/Wnt1 cells than in PC12 or PC12/flat. Wnt3 was expressed at low levels in both PC12 and PC12/flat, but was absent in PC12/Wnt1 cells. Wnt10a and Wnt11 were approximately equally expressed in the three groups, and Wnt2, Wnt5b, Wnt7a, Wnt10b and endogenous Wnt1 mRNAs were not detected. These results demonstrate that the expression of some Wnt genes changes in PC12 cells upon conversion to the flat phenotype, and suggest that Wnt1 may modulate expression of several other Wnt genes in these cells.
Wnt基因编码分泌型生长因子样蛋白，参与生长调节、分化和肿瘤发生。Wnt1的异位表达使源自神经嵴的大鼠嗜铬细胞瘤PC12细胞系从表达嗜铬细胞标志物的圆形表型转变为不表达这些标志物的扁平贴壁细胞（称为PC12/Wnt1）。PC12细胞的一组自发扁平变体（PC12/flat）在表型上与PC12/Wnt1细胞相似，但不表达Wnt1。在这里，我们描述了13种Wnt基因在野生型PC12、PC12/flat和PC12/Wnt1细胞中的表达情况。野生型PC12表达Wnt3、Wnt3a、Wnt4、Wnt5a、Wnt6、Wnt10a和Wnt11。与野生型细胞中的表达相比，PC12/flat和PC12/Wnt1细胞均失去了Wnt3a和Wnt4的大部分或全部表达，并获得了Wnt7b的表达。PC12/Wnt1细胞中Wnt5a和Wnt6的表达高于PC12或PC12/flat细胞。Wnt3在PC12和PC12/flat中均低水平表达，但在PC12/Wnt1细胞中不存在。Wnt10a和Wnt11在三组中表达大致相等，未检测到Wnt2、Wnt5b、Wnt7a、Wnt10b和内源性Wnt1 mRNA。这些结果表明，PC12细胞转变为扁平表型后，一些Wnt基因的表达发生了变化，并提示Wnt1可能调节这些细胞中其他几种Wnt基因的表达。
