β-catenin/Tcf Signaling in Squamous Differentiation of Porcine Airway Epithelial Cells

• Published in: Journal of Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Medical sciences Vol. 28; no. 2; pp. 121 - 124
• Main Author: 陈文书 吴人亮 王曦
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Huazhong University of Science and Technology 01.04.2008; Institute of Pathology,Tongji Hospital, Department of Pathology, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology; Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases, Ministry of Health, Wuhan 430030, China
• Subjects: Animals; beta Catenin - metabolism; Cell Differentiation; Cell Nucleus - metabolism; Cells, Cultured; Cornified Envelope Proline-Rich Proteins; Cytoplasm - metabolism; Epithelial Cells - cytology; Epithelial Cells - metabolism; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Membrane Proteins - metabolism; Mutation; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; RNA, Messenger - metabolism; Signal Transduction; Swine; Trachea - cytology; Trachea - metabolism; Transcription, Genetic; 上皮细胞; 分化过程; 脯氨酸; 蛋白质; β-catenin; airway epithelial cell; small proline-rich protein; squamous differentiation
• ISSN: 1672-0733; 1993-1352
• DOI: 10.1007/s11596-008-0201-y

For a preliminary study of the role of β-catenin/Tcf signaling in squamous differentiation of airway （tracheobronchial） epithelial cells, a stable mutant of β-catenin was transfected into primarily cultured porcine airway epithelial cells. Western blotting revealed that exogenous protein was observed in large quantity in cytoplasm and nucleus, When co-transfected with Tcf luciferase reporter plasmids, β-catenin mutant increased the reporter＇s transcriptional activities. However, mRNA expression of a squamous differentiation marker, small proline-rich protein （SPRP）, was not elevated, as shown by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. These findings suggest that β-catenin/Tcf signaling may not be directly involved in the squamous differentiation of porcine airway epithelial cells.