Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 25, 2026

The Soft Agar Colony Formation Assay
08:01

The Soft Agar Colony Formation Assay

Published on: October 27, 2014

Oncogenic function of ATDC in pancreatic cancer through Wnt pathway activation and beta-catenin stabilization

Lidong Wang1, David G Heidt, Cheong J Lee

  • 1Department of Surgery, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.

Cancer Cell
|March 3, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Elevated expression of ataxia-telangiectasia group D complementing gene (ATDC) drives pancreatic cancer growth and metastasis. ATDC stabilizes beta-catenin, a key protein in the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway, promoting oncogenic effects.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Cancer Genetics

Background:

  • Pancreatic cancer is a lethal malignancy with late diagnosis and therapeutic resistance.
  • Understanding the molecular drivers of pancreatic cancer pathogenesis is crucial for developing effective treatments.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of ataxia-telangiectasia group D complementing gene (ATDC), also known as TRIM29, in pancreatic cancer.
  • To elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which ATDC contributes to pancreatic cancer progression.

Main Methods:

  • Quantitative analysis of ATDC expression in pancreatic tumors and precursor lesions.
  • In vitro studies assessing the impact of ATDC on cancer cell proliferation.
  • In vivo experiments evaluating ATDC's effects on tumor growth and metastasis.
  • Analysis of the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway components, including beta-catenin and Disheveled-2.

Main Results:

  • ATDC expression is significantly elevated in most invasive pancreatic cancers and precursor lesions.
  • Overexpression of ATDC promotes pancreatic cancer cell proliferation in vitro and enhances tumor growth and metastasis in vivo.
  • ATDC expression correlates with increased beta-catenin levels, and beta-catenin signaling is essential for ATDC's oncogenic functions.
  • ATDC stabilizes beta-catenin by influencing Disheveled-2, a key regulator in the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway.

Conclusions:

  • ATDC is a novel oncogene in pancreatic cancer, promoting tumor progression and metastasis.
  • The Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway, regulated by ATDC through Disheveled-2, is a critical mediator of ATDC's oncogenic activity.
  • Targeting ATDC or the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway may offer therapeutic strategies for pancreatic cancer.

More Related Videos

Ultrasound-Guided Orthotopic Implantation of Murine Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma06:21

Ultrasound-Guided Orthotopic Implantation of Murine Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Published on: November 19, 2019

Related Concept Videos

Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathway02:54

Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathway

The gene encoding the main signaling molecules of the Wnt signaling pathways (the Wnt proteins) was discovered almost four decades ago by Nüsslein-Volhard and Wieschaus. They identified and originally named the gene "wingless" (wg) after a phenotype discovered during their landmark genetic screen in Drosophila for body pattern defects. At around the same time, another researcher named Harold Varmus found that a murine tumor virus activates the mammalian wg homolog, Int-1, which results in tumor...
Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathway02:54

Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathway

The gene encoding the main signaling molecules of the Wnt signaling pathways (the Wnt proteins) was discovered almost four decades ago by Nüsslein-Volhard and Wieschaus. They identified and originally named the gene "wingless" (wg) after a phenotype discovered during their landmark genetic screen in Drosophila for body pattern defects. At around the same time, another researcher named Harold Varmus found that a murine tumor virus activates the mammalian wg homolog, Int-1, which results in tumor...
Catenins01:23

Catenins

Catenins are characterized by multiple binding domains and dynamic structures that allow them to function as linker proteins in cell junction complexes. All catenins, except α-catenin, contain a characteristic protein sequence called the armadillo repeat and are therefore also called armadillo proteins.
Catenins in Cell Junctions
Catenins bind to cell adhesion molecules such as cadherins and link them to different cytoskeletal proteins depending on the type of cell junction. At the adherens...
Non-Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathways01:41

Non-Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathways

Wnt is a zygotic effect gene that is expressed during very early embryonic development. It regulates various processes in animals starting from early development through the adult stage, such as organogenesis in the embryo and maintenance of neuronal and blood stem cells. Wnt proteins can induce a wide variety of intracellular pathways depending upon the specific abilities of different Wnt ligands to form a complex with shared and cognate receptors in the presence of different co-receptors. The...
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression03:03

mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression

The mammalian target of rapamycin or mTOR protein was discovered in 1994 due to its direct interaction with rapamycin. The protein gets its name from a yeast homolog called TOR. The mTOR protein complex in mammalian cells plays a major role in balancing anabolic processes such as the synthesis of proteins, lipids, and nucleotides and catabolic processes, such as autophagy in response to environmental cues, such as availability of nutrients and growth factors.
The mTOR pathway or the...
Cancer-Critical Genes I: Proto-oncogenes01:33

Cancer-Critical Genes I: Proto-oncogenes

Genes usually encode proteins necessary for the proper functioning of a healthy cell. Mutations can often cause changes to the gene expression pattern, thereby altering the phenotype.
When the function of certain critical genes, especially those involved in cell cycle regulation and cell growth signaling cascades, gets disrupted, it upsets the cell cycle progression. Such cells with unchecked cell cycles start proliferating uncontrollably and eventually develop into tumors.
Such genes that act...