Austin Health

Title
A Mouse Model for the Rapid and Binomial Assessment of Putative WNT/β-Catenin Signalling Inhibitors.
Publication Date
2023-10-07
Author(s)
Tse, Janson
O'Keefe, Ryan
Rigopolous, Angela
Carli, Annalisa L E
Waaler, Jo
Krauss, Stefan
Ernst, Matthias
Buchert, Michael
Subject
APC
WNT inhibitors
WNT/β-catenin signalling
in vivo assay
pyrvinium pamoate
tankyrase inhibitor
Type of document
Journal Article
OrcId
#PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE#
0000-0002-8527-2165
#PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE#
0000-0003-0312-1097
#PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE#
#PLACEHOLDER_PARENT_METADATA_VALUE#
0000-0002-6399-1177
0000-0003-2672-0148
DOI
10.3390/biomedicines11102719
Abstract
Specific signalling thresholds of the WNT/β-catenin pathway affect embryogenesis and tissue homeostasis in the adult, with mutations in this pathway frequently occurring in cancer. Excessive WNT/β-catenin activity inhibits murine anterior development associated with embryonic lethality and accounts for the driver event in 80% of human colorectal cancers. Uncontrolled WNT/β-catenin signalling arises primarily from impairment mutation in the tumour suppressor gene APC that otherwise prevents prolonged stabilisation of β-catenin. Surprisingly, no inhibitor compounds for WNT/β-catenin signalling have reached clinical use in part owing to the lack of specific in vivo assays that discriminate between on-target activities and dose-limiting toxicities. Here, we present a simple in vivo assay with a binary outcome whereby the administration of candidate compounds to pregnant and phenotypically normal Apcflox/flox mice can rescue in utero death of Apcmin/flox mutant conceptus without subsequent post-mortem assessment of WNT/β-catenin signalling. Indeed, the phenotypic plasticity of born Apcmin/flox conceptus enables future refinement of our assay to potentially enable dosage finding and cross-compound comparisons. Thus, we show for the first time the suitability of endogenous WNT/β-catenin signalling during embryonic development to provide an unambiguous and sensitive mammalian in vivo model to assess the efficacy and bioavailability of potential WNT/β-catenin antagonists.
Link
Citation
Biomedicines 2023-10-07; 11(10)
Jornal Title
Biomedicines

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