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©2014 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jun 21, 2014; 20(23): 7137-7151
Published online Jun 21, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i23.7137
Published online Jun 21, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i23.7137
Emerging role of the β-catenin-PPARγ axis in the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer
Lina Sabatino, Massimo Pancione, Carolina Votino, Tommaso Colangelo, Angelo Lupo, Vittorio Colantuoni, Department of Sciences and Technologies, University of Sannio, 82100 Benevento, Italy
Ettore Novellino, Antonio Lavecchia, Department of Pharmacy, “Drug Discovery” Laboratory, University of Naples “Federico II“, 80131 Naples, Italy
Author contributions: Sabatino L and Pancione M contributed equally to this work; Sabatino L, Pancione M, Lupo A and Colantuoni V designed research; Sabatino L, Votino C and Colangelo T performed research; Novellino E and Lavecchia A contributed to the new compounds/analytic tools; Votino C and Lupo A performed the literature search; Sabatino L, Pancione M, Lupo A and Colantuoni V wrote the paper; and all authors approved the final version.
Supported by Ministero dell’Istruzione, Università e Ricerca, MIUR-PRIN 2010-2011, No. prot. 2010W7YRLZ_003
Correspondence to: Vittorio Colantuoni, Professor, Department of Sciences and Technologies, University of Sannio, Via Port’Arsa, 11, 82100 Benevento, Italy. colantuoni@unisannio.it
Telephone: +39-824-305102 Fax: +39-824-305147
Received: October 15, 2013
Revised: January 15, 2014
Accepted: April 30, 2014
Published online: June 21, 2014
Revised: January 15, 2014
Accepted: April 30, 2014
Published online: June 21, 2014
Core Tip
Core tip: Genetic and epigenetic modifications of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway play a fundamental role in the initiation and progression of colorectal cancer (CRC). The nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator activated receptor γ (PPARγ) acts as a differentiation-promoting transcription factor with a potential link with Wnt/β-catenin. In this review, we discuss the basic principles underlying the crosstalk between Wnt/β-catenin and PPARγ signaling, present the most recent progress in understanding as to how their alterations can culminate in CRC and, finally, suggest new hypotheses and perspectives on the identification of selective PPARγ modulators endowed with Wnt/β-catenin inhibitory effects to be used as molecular targeted drugs.