1. Academic Validation
  2. Bcl-2 is a critical mediator of intestinal transformation

Bcl-2 is a critical mediator of intestinal transformation

  • Nat Commun. 2016 Mar 9;7:10916. doi: 10.1038/ncomms10916.
Maartje van der Heijden 1 2 Cheryl D Zimberlin 2 Anna M Nicholson 1 Selcuk Colak 2 Richard Kemp 1 Sybren L Meijer 3 Jan Paul Medema 2 4 Florian R Greten 5 Marnix Jansen 6 Douglas J Winton 1 Louis Vermeulen 1 2
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Cancer Research UK, Cambridge Institute, University of Cambridge, Robinson Way, Cambridge CB2 0RE, UK.
  • 2 Laboratory for Experimental Oncology and Radiobiology (LEXOR), Center for Experimental Molecular Medicine (CEMM), Academic Medical Center, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
  • 3 Department of Pathology, Academic Medical Center, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
  • 4 Cancer Genomics Center, Center for Molecular Medicine, HP Stratenum 3.217, Universiteitsweg 100, 3584 CG Utrecht, The Netherlands.
  • 5 Institute for Tumor Biology and Experimental Therapy, Georg-Speyer-Haus, Paul-Ehrlich-Straße 42-44, 60596 Frankfurt, Germany.
  • 6 Barts Cancer Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1M 6BQ, UK.
Abstract

Intestinal tumour formation is generally thought to occur following mutational events in the stem cell pool. However, active NF-κB signalling additionally facilitates malignant transformation of differentiated cells. We hypothesized that genes shared between NF-κB and intestinal stem cell (ISCs) signatures might identify common pathways that are required for malignant growth. Here, we find that the NF-κB target Bcl-2, an anti-apoptotic gene, is specifically expressed in ISCs in both mice and humans. Bcl-2 is dispensable in homeostasis and, although involved in protecting ISCs from radiation-induced damage, it is non-essential in tissue regeneration. Bcl-2 is upregulated in adenomas, and its loss or inhibition impairs outgrowth of oncogenic clones, because Bcl-2 alleviates apoptotic priming in epithelial cells following APC loss. Furthermore, Bcl-2 expression in differentiated epithelial cells renders these cells amenable to clonogenic outgrowth. Collectively, our results indicate that Bcl-2 is required for efficient intestinal transformation following Apc-loss and constitutes a potential chemoprevention target.

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