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Truncated APC is required for cell proliferation and DNA replication.

Schneikert J, Behrens J

Nikolaus-Fiebiger-Center for Molecular Medicine, University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany.

The tumour suppressor APC is truncated in most colon cancers, which leads to the stabilization of beta-catenin and to the constitutive activation of Wnt signalling. However, it is not clear why colon cancer cells retain the truncated APC fragment. Here, we show that a decrease of APC levels achieved by RNA interference impairs cell proliferation and DNA replication, not only in 293 cells that express a wild-type protein, but also in SW480 colon cancer cells that express exclusively a truncated APC fragment. This correlates with a reduction of the levels of cyclin A, cyclin A-dependent kinase activity, p27(kip1) and the catalytic subunit of DNA polymerase delta. Thus, our data suggest that colon cancer cells retain a truncated APC fragment because it is essential for cell proliferation.

Published 24 April 2006 in Int J Cancer, 119(1): 74-9.
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