Distinct hydrophobic "patches" in the N- and C-tails of beta-catenin contribute to nuclear transport.

ß-catenin is a key mediator of Wnt signaling and its deregulated nuclear accumulation can drive cancer progression. While the central armadillo (Arm) repeats of ß-catenin stimulate nuclear entry, the N- and C-terminal "tail" sequences are thought to regulate turnover and transactivation. We show here that the N- and C-tails are also potent transport sequences. The unstructured tails of ß-catenin, when individually fused to a GFP-reporter, could enter and exit the nucleus rapidly in live cells. Proximity ligation assays and pull-down assays identified a weak interaction between the tail sequences and the FG-repeats of nucleoporins, consistent with a possible direct translocation of ß-catenin through the nuclear pore complex. Extensive alanine mutagenesis of the tail sequences revealed that nuclear translocation of ß-catenin was dependent on specific uniformly distributed patches of hydrophobic residues, whereas the mutagenesis of acidic amino acids had no effect. Moreover, the mutation of hydrophobic patches within the N-tail and C-tail of full length ß-catenin reduced nuclear transport rate and diminished its ability to activate transcription. We propose that the tail sequences can contribute to ß-catenin transport and suggest a possible similar role for hydrophobic unstructured regions in other proteins.

Characterization of Adenomatous Polyposis Coli Protein Dynamics and Localization at the Centrosome.

The adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) tumor suppressor is a multifunctional regulator of Wnt signaling and acts as a mobile scaffold at different cellular sites. APC was recently found to stimulate microtubule (MT) growth at the interphase centrosome; however, little is known about its dynamics and localization at this site. To address this, we analysed APC dynamics in fixed and live cells by fluorescence microscopy. In detergent-extracted cells, we discovered that APC was only weakly retained at the centrosome during interphase suggesting a rapid rate of exchange. This was confirmed in living cells by fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP), which identified two pools of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-APC: a major rapidly exchanging pool (~86%) and minor retained pool (~14%). The dynamic exchange rate of APC was unaffected by C-terminal truncations implicating a targeting role for the N-terminus. Indeed, we mapped centrosome localization to N-terminal armadillo repeat (ARM) domain amino acids 334-625. Interestingly, the rate of APC movement to the centrosome was stimulated by intact MTs, and APC dynamics slowed when MTs were disrupted by nocodazole treatment or knockdown of γ-tubulin. Thus, the rate of APC recycling at the centrosome is enhanced by MT growth, suggesting a positive feedback to stimulate its role in MT growth.

Characterization of a beta-catenin nuclear localization defect in MCF-7 breast cancer cells.

Beta-catenin plays a key role in transducing Wnt signals from the plasma membrane to the nucleus. Here we characterize an unusual subcellular distribution of beta-catenin in MCF-7 breast cancer cells, wherein beta-catenin localizes to the cytoplasm and membrane but atypically did not relocate to the nucleus after Wnt treatment. The inability of Wnt or the Wnt agonist LiCl to induce nuclear localization of beta-catenin was not due to defective nuclear transport, as the transport machinery was intact and ectopic GFP-beta-catenin displayed rapid nuclear entry in living cells. The mislocalization is explained by a shift in the retention of beta-catenin from nucleus to cytoplasm. The reduced nuclear retention is caused by unusually low expression of lymphoid enhancer factor/T-cell factor (LEF/TCF) transcription factors. The reconstitution of LEF-1 or TCF4 expression rescued nuclear localization of beta-catenin in Wnt treated cells. In the cytoplasm, beta-catenin accumulated in recycling endosomes, golgi and beta-COP-positive coatomer complexes. The peripheral association with endosomes diminished after Wnt treatment, potentially releasing ß-catenin into the cytoplasm for nuclear entry. We propose that in MCF-7 and perhaps other breast cancer cells, beta-catenin may contribute to cytoplasmic functions such as ER-golgi transport, in addition to its transactivation role in the nucleus.

APC functions at the centrosome to stimulate microtubule growth.

The adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) tumor suppressor is multi-functional. APC is known to localize at the centrosome, and in mitotic cells contributes to formation of the mitotic spindle. To test whether APC contributes to nascent microtubule (MT) growth at interphase centrosomes, we employed MT regrowth assays in U2OS cells to measure MT assembly before and after nocodazole treatment and release. We showed that siRNA knockdown of full-length APC delayed both initial MT aster formation and MT elongation/regrowth. In contrast, APC-mutant SW480 cancer cells displayed a defect in MT regrowth that was unaffected by APC knockdown, but which was rescued by reconstitution of full-length APC. Our findings identify APC as a positive regulator of centrosome MT initial assembly and suggest that this process is disrupted by cancer mutations. We confirmed that full-length APC associates with the MT-nucleation factor γ-tubulin, and found that the APC cancer-truncated form (1-1309) also bound to γ-tubulin through APC amino acids 1-453. While binding to γ-tubulin may help target APC to the site of MT nucleation complexes, additional C-terminal sequences of APC are required to stimulate and stabilize MT growth.

Rac1 augments Wnt signaling by stimulating ß-catenin-lymphoid enhancer factor-1 complex assembly independent of ß-catenin nuclear import.

ß-Catenin transduces the Wnt signaling pathway and its nuclear accumulation leads to gene transactivation and cancer. Rac1 GTPase is known to stimulate ß-catenin-dependent transcription of Wnt target genes and we confirmed this activity. Here we tested the recent hypothesis that Rac1 augments Wnt signaling by enhancing ß-catenin nuclear import; however, we found that silencing/inhibition or up-regulation of Rac1 had no influence on nuclear accumulation of ß-catenin. To better define the role of Rac1, we employed proximity ligation assays (PLA) and discovered that a significant pool of Rac1-ß-catenin protein complexes redistribute from the plasma membrane to the nucleus upon Wnt or Rac1 activation. More importantly, active Rac1 was shown to stimulate the formation of nuclear ß-catenin-lymphoid enhancer factor 1 (LEF-1) complexes. This regulation required Rac1-dependent phosphorylation of ß-catenin at specific serines, which when mutated (S191A and S605A) reduced ß-catenin binding to LEF-1 by up to 50%, as revealed by PLA and immunoprecipitation experiments. We propose that Rac1-mediated phosphorylation of ß-catenin stimulates Wnt-dependent gene transactivation by enhancing ß-catenin-LEF-1 complex assembly, providing new insight into the mechanism of cross-talk between Rac1 and canonical Wnt/ß-catenin signaling.

WITHDRAWN: The hydrophobic rich N- and C-terminal tails of beta-catenin facilitate nuclear import of beta-catenin.

This manuscript has been withdrawn by the author.

APC as a mobile scaffold: regulation and function at the nucleus, centrosomes, and mitochondria.

Genetic mutations of adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) predispose to high risk of human colon cancer. APC is a large tumor suppressor protein and truncating mutations disrupt its normal roles in regulating cell migration, DNA replication/repair, mitosis, apoptosis, and turnover of oncogenic ß-catenin. APC is targeted to multiple subcellular sites, and here we discuss recent evidence implicating novel protein interactions and functions of APC in the nucleus and at centrosomes and mitochondria. The ability of APC to shuttle between these and other cell locations is hypothesized to be integral to its cellular function.