<% ' ***************** PAGE COLORS ***************** ' Blue (Papers of the Week) ' TitleHex = "C5DDDD" TitleHex = "C7D9E9" SecHex = "ECF3F9" strPageTitle = "Diagram blceAD4" %>
<%=strPageTitle %>

Posted 4 June 2009

Wnt signaling is a complex pathway, believed to be involved in the regulation of divergent processes including the maintenance of potency (pluri- and multi-) and initiation of differentiation (e.g., neuronal differentiation). To explain these divergent responses to activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling, we have developed a model which posits that β-catenin/CBP-mediated transcription is critical for maintenance of potency, whereas a switch to β-catenin/p300-mediated transcription is the first critical step required to initiate differentiation (A). In the adult brain, homeostasis is dependent upon an equilibrium between neurogenesis and cell death (B). Recent studies suggest that brain homoeostasis is disturbed in Alzheimer’s disease patients: this is believed to be a combined affect caused by increased Aβ accumulation triggering cell death, and aberrant Wnt signaling leading to defective neurogenesis. (C). to ameliorate this condition observed in AD, we propose that modulation of Wnt signaling (i.e. increasing β-catenin/p300 mediated transcription by antagonizing β-catenin/CBP mediated transcription) may both decrease Aβ accumulation and neuronal toxicity thereby reducing neuronal cell death and concomitantly stimulate neurogenesis (D). Image credit: Michael Kahn