Role of BCL9 proteins in beta-catenin signaling
Our group recently observed in a mouse model of colon adenocarcinoma that inactivation of Bcl9/Bcl9l, two genes involved in the Wnt pathway, results in abrogation of traits characteristic of stem cells and associated with invasiveness and drug resistance. The main focus of our current research is to explore whether inhibiting the function of these genes in human cancer cells can revert such traits and may lead to a novel therapeutic approach.
Keywords
Developmental pathways & cancer / tumor cell differentiation / invasion & metastasis / resistance to therapy