Biomedical subjects

Sheng-Cai Lin

Publications and source records attributed to Sheng-Cai Lin.

21 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed2002

Casein kinase I and casein kinase II differentially regulate axin function in Wnt and JNK pathways.

Axin uses different combinations of functional domains in down-regulation of the Wnt pathway and activation of the MEKK1/JNK pathway. We are interested in the elucidation of the functional switch of Axin. In the present study, we show that the Wnt activator CKIepsilon, but not CKIIalpha, Frat1, LRP5, or LRP6, inhibited Axin-mediated JNK activation. We also found that both CKIalpha and CKIepsilon interacted with Axin, whereas CKIIalpha did not bind to Axin and had no effect on Axin-mediated JNK activity even though CKIIalpha has also been suggested to be an activator for the Wnt pathway. The COOH-terminal region and the MEKK1-interacting domain of Axin are important for CKIalpha-Axin and CKIepsilon-Axin interaction. We further demonstrated that CKIepsilon and CKIalpha binding to Axin excluded MEKK1 binding, indicating that a competitive physical occupancy may underlie the inhibitory effect. Moreover, our data indicated that CKIepsilon kinase activity plays an additive role in this effect. Taken together, we have demonstrated that CKI and CKII exhibit differential effects on Axin-MEKK1 interaction and Axin-mediated JNK activation. Furthermore, our data suggest that CKI may provide a possible switch mechanism for Axin function in the regulation of Wnt and JNK pathways.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Axin negatively affects tau phosphorylation by glycogen synthase kinase 3beta.

Glycogen synthase kinase 3beta (GSK3beta) is an essential protein kinase that regulates numerous functions within the cell. One critically important substrate of GSK3beta is the microtubule-associated protein tau. Phosphorylation of tau by GSK3beta decreases tau-microtubule interactions. In addition to phosphorylating tau, GSK3beta is a downstream regulator of the wnt signaling pathway, which maintains the levels of beta-catenin. Axin plays a central role in regulating beta-catenin levels by bringing together GSK3beta and beta-catenin and facilitating the phosphorylation of beta-catenin, targeting it for ubiquitination and degradation by the proteasome. Although axin clearly facilitates the phosphorylation of beta-catenin, its effects on the phosphorylation of other GSK3beta substrates are unclear. Therefore in this study the effects of axin on GSK3beta-mediated tau phosphorylation were examined. The results clearly demonstrate that axin is a negative regulator of tau phosphorylation by GSK3beta. This negative regulation of GSK3beta-mediated tau phosphorylation is due to the fact that axin efficiently binds GSK3beta but not tau and thus sequesters GSK3beta away from tau, as an axin mutant that does not bind GSK3beta did not inhibit tau phosphorylation by GSK3beta. This is the first demonstration that axin negatively affects the phosphorylation of a GSK3beta substrate, and provides a novel mechanism by which tau phosphorylation and function can be regulated within the cell.

Axin Protein↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Axin: a master scaffold for multiple signaling pathways.

Axin was originally identified from the characterization of the Fused locus, the disruption of which leads to duplication of axis and embryonic lethality. It is a multidomain protein that interacts with multiple proteins and functions as a negative regulator of Wnt signaling by downregulating the beta-catenin levels. Recently, it was demonstrated that Axin also plays an important role in a JNK signaling pathway. Axin utilizes discriminatory domains for its distinct roles in the Wnt pathway and in the Axin/JNK pathway. Here we review the data that show how Axin regulates multiple signaling pathways by serving as a scaffold protein, controlling diverse cellular functions in proliferation, fate determination, and suppression of tumorigenesis.

Animals↗