Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 28, 2026

Anticancer Efficacy of Photodynamic Therapy with Lung Cancer-Targeted Nanoparticles
08:03

Anticancer Efficacy of Photodynamic Therapy with Lung Cancer-Targeted Nanoparticles

Published on: December 1, 2016

9.5K

Targeting the crosstalks of Wnt pathway with Hedgehog and Notch for cancer therapy

Sharmistha Chatterjee1, Parames C Sil1

  • 1Division of Molecular Medicine, Bose Institute, P-1/12, CIT Scheme VII M, Kolkata, 700054, India.

Pharmacological Research
|March 4, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Targeting the crosstalk between Wnt, Hedgehog, and Notch pathways offers a novel cancer treatment strategy. Inhibiting these interconnected pathways and cancer stem cells may reduce tumor relapse and improve therapeutic efficacy.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Biology
  • Cancer Biology
  • Molecular Signaling

Background:

  • The Wnt pathway is crucial for embryonic development, stem cell maintenance, and cell fate determination.
  • Wnt signaling interacts with Hedgehog and Notch pathways during development and in maintaining stemness.
  • These pathways are implicated in tumorigenesis, cancer progression, and cancer stem cell (CSC) maintenance.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of crosstalk between Wnt, Hedgehog, and Notch pathways in cancer.
  • To explore the potential of targeting these pathway interactions for improved cancer therapy.
  • To address limitations of single-pathway inhibition in preventing tumor relapse.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing research on Wnt, Hedgehog, and Notch pathway interactions in cancer.
  • Analysis of the contribution of these pathways to tumorigenesis and CSC populations.
  • Evaluation of therapeutic strategies targeting individual pathways versus crosstalk networks.

Main Results:

  • Individual inhibition of Wnt, Hedgehog, or Notch pathways yields suboptimal tumor regression.
  • Cancer stem cells, supported by these pathways, contribute to therapy resistance and tumor relapse.
  • Targeting the crosstalk network is proposed as a more effective approach than single-pathway inhibition.

Conclusions:

  • The crosstalk network of Wnt, Hedgehog, and Notch pathways is a critical driver of cancer progression and relapse.
  • Targeting this network, alongside CSCs, offers a promising strategy to enhance cancer treatment efficacy.
  • Combinatorial therapies targeting these crosstalks could significantly reduce the likelihood of cancer recurrence.
Keywords:
Cancer stem cellsCombination therapy in cancerCrosstalkHedgehogNotchWnt

More Related Videos

Studying Wnt Signaling During Patterning of Conducting Airways13:00

Studying Wnt Signaling During Patterning of Conducting Airways

Published on: October 16, 2016

7.8K
Integration of Bioinformatics Approaches and Experimental Validations to Understand the Role of Notch Signaling in Ovarian Cancer09:08

Integration of Bioinformatics Approaches and Experimental Validations to Understand the Role of Notch Signaling in Ovarian Cancer

Published on: January 12, 2020

7.2K

Related Concept Videos

Hedgehog Signaling Pathway02:33

Hedgehog Signaling Pathway

The Hedgehog gene (Hh) was first discovered due to its control of the growth of disorganized, hair-like bristles phenotype in Drosophila, much like hedgehog spines. Hh plays a crucial role in the development of organs and the maintenance of homeostasis in both invertebrates and vertebrates. However, while Drosophila has only one Hh protein, mammals have multiple functional Hedgehog proteins - Sonic (Shh), Desert (Dhh), and Indian Hedgehog (Ihh). All of these homologous proteins have adapted to...
10.1K
Targeted Cancer Therapies02:57

Targeted Cancer Therapies

The targeted cancer therapies, also known as “molecular targeted therapies,” take advantage of the molecular and genetic differences between the cancer cells and the normal cells. It needs a thorough understanding of the cancer cells to develop drugs that can target specific molecular aspects that drive the growth, progression, and spread of cancer cells without affecting the growth and survival of other normal cells in the body.
There are several types of targeted therapies against...
8.9K
Notch Signaling Pathway03:14

Notch Signaling Pathway

The Notch signaling pathway is a major intracellular signaling pathway that is highly conserved over a broad spectrum of metazoan species. It stands unique from other intracellular signaling mechanisms in animals because notch protein itself acts as the receptor as well as the primary signaling molecule.
The Notch gene came into the limelight in 1914 after the discovery that its mutation in Drosophila melanogaster leads to a serrated (or "notched") wing margin phenotype. It was not...
6.5K
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...
10.6K
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...
8.4K