Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Jul 14;21(1):144.
doi: 10.1186/s12943-022-01616-7.

Wnt signaling in colorectal cancer: pathogenic role and therapeutic target

Hui Zhao #  1 , Tianqi Ming #  1 , Shun Tang  1 , Shan Ren  1 , Han Yang  1 , Maolun Liu  1 , Qiu Tao  1 , Haibo Xu  2
Affiliations
Review

Wnt signaling in colorectal cancer: pathogenic role and therapeutic target

Hui Zhao et al. Mol Cancer. .

Abstract

Background: The Wnt signaling pathway is a complex network of protein interactions that functions most commonly in embryonic development and cancer, but is also involved in normal physiological processes in adults. The canonical Wnt signaling pathway regulates cell pluripotency and determines the differentiation fate of cells during development. The canonical Wnt signaling pathway (also known as the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway) is a recognized driver of colon cancer and one of the most representative signaling pathways. As a functional effector molecule of Wnt signaling, the modification and degradation of β-catenin are key events in the Wnt signaling pathway and the development and progression of colon cancer. Therefore, the Wnt signaling pathway plays an important role in the pathogenesis of diseases, especially the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer (CRC).

Objective: Inhibit the Wnt signaling pathway to explore the therapeutic targets of colorectal cancer.

Methods: Based on studying the Wnt pathway, master the biochemical processes related to the Wnt pathway, and analyze the relevant targets when drugs or inhibitors act on the Wnt pathway, to clarify the medication ideas of drugs or inhibitors for the treatment of diseases, especially colorectal cancer.

Results: Wnt signaling pathways include: Wnt/β-catenin or canonical Wnt signaling pathway, planar cell polarity (Wnt-PCP) pathway and Wnt-Ca2+ signaling pathway. The Wnt signaling pathway is closely related to cancer cell proliferation, stemness, apoptosis, autophagy, metabolism, inflammation and immunization, microenvironment, resistance, ion channel, heterogeneity, EMT/migration/invasion/metastasis. Drugs/phytochemicals and molecular preparations for the Wnt pathway of CRC treatment have now been developed. Wnt inhibitors are also commonly used clinically for the treatment of CRC.

Conclusion: The development of drugs/phytochemicals and molecular inhibitors targeting the Wnt pathway can effectively treat colorectal cancer clinically.

Keywords: Biochemical process; Colorectal cancer; Drugs and inhibitors; Wnt pathway.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicting interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Canonical and non-canonical Wnt signaling pathways
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Canonical Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway off and on
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Wnt signaling pathway and biochemical process
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Wnt blocking drugs and pathway inhibitors
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Bryja V, Červenka I, Čajánek L. The connections of Wnt pathway components with cell cycle and centrosome: side effects or a hidden logic? Crit Rev Biochem Mol Biol. 2017;52(6):614–637. doi: 10.1080/10409238.2017.1350135. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tai D, Wells K, Arcaroli J, Vanderbilt C, Aisner D, Messersmith W, et al. Targeting the WNT Signaling Pathway in Cancer Therapeutics. Oncologist. 2015;20(10):1189–1198. doi: 10.1634/theoncologist.2015-0057. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Miete C, Solis G, Koval A, Brückner M, Katanaev V, Behrens J, et al. Gαi2-induced conductin/axin2 condensates inhibit Wnt/β-catenin signaling and suppress cancer growth. Nat Commun. 2022;13(1):674. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-28286-9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Parichha A, Suresh V, Chatterjee M, Kshirsagar A, Ben-Reuven L, Olender T, et al. Constitutive activation of canonical Wnt signaling disrupts choroid plexus epithelial fate. Nat Commun. 2022;13(1):633. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-27602-z. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Neiheisel A, Kaur M, Ma N, Havard P, Shenoy AK. Wnt pathway modulators in cancer therapeutics: An update on completed and ongoing clinical trials. Int J Cancer. 2022;150(5):727–740. doi: 10.1002/ijc.33811. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types