beta-catenin, an inducer of uncontrolled cell proliferation and migration in malignancies, is localized in the cytoplasm of vascular endothelium during neovascularization after myocardial infarction
Wm. Blankesteijn et al., beta-catenin, an inducer of uncontrolled cell proliferation and migration in malignancies, is localized in the cytoplasm of vascular endothelium during neovascularization after myocardial infarction, AM J PATH, 157(3), 2000, pp. 877-883
Citations number
41
Categorie Soggetti
Research/Laboratory Medicine & Medical Tecnology","Medical Research Diagnosis & Treatment
beta-catenin is a protein. involved in cell-cell adhesion and proliferation
. In neoplastic diseases, defects in the regulation of the cellular beta-ca
tenin content and cytoplasmic accumulation of the protein contribute to the
uncontrolled cell proliferation and migration, Whether beta-catenin plays
a role in the controlled proliferative and migratory responses to Injury, e
g, of vascular endothelial cells during neovascularization after myocardial
infarction (MI), is not known. In the present study, we examined the local
ization of beta-catenin in the infarcted rat heart at different time points
after MI. Cytoplasmic beta-catenin was observed in the endothelial cells o
f the newly formed and pre-existing blood vessels in the infarct area in th
e first week after MI, but not in the uninjured parts of the heart and not
at later time points. Adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) protein was also det
ected; interaction of APC with beta-catenin. has been reported to be critic
al in epithelial tube formation in vitro. Moreover, the expression of dishe
velled-1, an upstream regulatory molecule of the cellular beta-catenin cont
ent, was observed in vascular endothelial cells in the infarct area. These
findings suggest a role for the beta-catenin-APC complex in the proliferati
on and migration of vascular endothelial cells during neovascularization of
the infarct area.