Wnt/β-catenin pathway regulates MGMT gene expression in cancer and inhibition of Wnt signalling prevents chemoresistance.

The DNA repair enzyme O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) is commonly overexpressed in cancers and is implicated in the development of chemoresistance. The use of drugs inhibiting MGMT has been hindered by their haematologic toxicity and inefficiency. As a different strategy to inhibit MGM...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Wickström, Malin, Dyberg, Cecilia, Milosevic, Jelena, Calero Oliver, Raúl, Sveinbjörnsson, Baldur, Sandén, Emma, Darabi, Anna, Siesjö, Peter, Kool, Marcel, Kogner, Per, Baryawno, Ninib, Johnsen, John Inge, Einvik, Christer
Format: article
Publication Date:2015
Country:España
Institution:Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha
Repository:RUIdeRA. Repositorio Institucional de la UCLM
OAI Identifier:oai:ruidera.uclm.es:10578/8553
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10578/8553
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Wnt/β-catenin
MGMT gene
β-catenin
Cancer
Chemotherapy
Description
Summary:The DNA repair enzyme O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) is commonly overexpressed in cancers and is implicated in the development of chemoresistance. The use of drugs inhibiting MGMT has been hindered by their haematologic toxicity and inefficiency. As a different strategy to inhibit MGMT we investigated cellular regulators of MGMT expression in multiple cancers. Here we show a significant correlation between Wnt signalling and MGMT expression in cancers with different origin and confirm the findings by bioinformatic analysis and immunofluorescence. We demonstrate Wnt-dependent MGMT gene expression and cellular co-localization between active #946;-catenin and MGMT. Pharmacological or genetic inhibition of Wnt activity downregulates MGMT expression and restores chemosensitivity of DNA-alkylating drugs in mouse models. These findings have potential therapeutic implications for chemoresistant cancers, especially of brain tumours where the use of temozolomide is frequently used in treatment.