Description: | The Axin-related protein, Axin2, presumably plays animportant role in the regulation of the stability of beta-cateninin the Wnt signaling pathway, like its rodent homologs, mouseconductin/rat axil. In mouse, conductin organizes a multiproteincomplex of APC (adenomatous polyposis of the colon), beta-catenin,glycogen synthase kinase 3-beta, and conductin, which leads to thedegradation of beta-catenin. Apparently, the deregulation ofbeta-catenin is an important event in the genesis of a number ofmalignancies. The AXIN2 gene has been mapped to 17q23-q24, a regionthat shows frequent loss of heterozygosity in breast cancer,neuroblastoma, and other tumors. Mutations in this gene have beenassociated with colorectal cancer with defective mismatch repair. |