The role of glypican-3 in regulating Wnt in hepatocellular carcinomas.

ABSTRACT: Glypican-3 (GPC3) is highly expressed in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and a growing body of evidence supports the role of GPC3 in HCC pathogenesis. In this review, we discuss recent developments regarding the regulation of GPC3 in HCC and provide insight about GPC3 as a potential therapeutic target in liver cancer. One of the most well studied pathways related to the biological functions of GPC3 is the Wnt signaling pathway. GPC3 may form a complex with Wnt and stimulates HCC growth. GPC3 does this by facilitating and/or stabilizing the interaction between Wnt and Frizzled, leading to the activation of downstream signaling pathways. This signaling complex is also affected by Sulfatase 2 (SULF2), a heparin-degrading endosulfatase. Removing the sulfate groups from GPC3 enhances Wnt s

SUBMITTER: Gao W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3343874 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature