For years, scientists had known that b-catenin acted at the cell membrane as an adhesion molecule. Then Hans Clevers' lab at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, which had spent years characterizing the Tcf set of transcription factors, reported that those transcription factors also interacted with b-catenin.4 Another group reported that a related transcription factor also interacted with the signaling protein.5 The sum of those findings showed that b-catenin, besides acting on the cell membrane, could act on the nucleus as a transcription factor. Those two papers also suggested that APC could mediate transcription. Then Kinzler's and Clevers' labs joined forces to illustrate APC/b-catenin activity in colon cancer, while Polakis' group examined that in melanoma. All three published different yet related papers in the same issue of Science. Polakis' paper emphasized the role of APC in regulating the stability—and there-fore levels and distribution—of b-catenin in the cell, while the Kinzler- and ...
Cancer
The papers listed here, have been cited in a substantially greater number of publications than others of the same type and vintage, according to data from the Science Citation Index® of the Institute for Scientific Information, Philadelphia. Why have these research reports become such standouts? In conversations with The Scientist, the authors attempt to provide answers. Following protein pathways can lead to unexpected places. In this case, three groups approached b-catenin from separate d
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