Beta-catenin

Beta-catenin is a multifunctional protein encoded by the CTNNB1 gene, widely existing in epithelial cells, mesenchymal cells, and embryonic stem cells. Beta-catenin can not only interact with E-cadherin to maintain cell adhesion, but also become the second messenger of classical Wnt signaling pathway to regulate cell proliferation and embryonic development. Some research found that the abnormal activation of Wnt/Beta-catenin pathway may occur in lung cancer, liver cancer, gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer and other tumors, which will weaken the E-cadherin mediated adhesion to promote cell migration and induce Beta-catenin binding to the TCF/LEF transcription factor family to stimulate epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Therefore, the increased Beta-catenin expression is closely related to the malignant development of cancers and poor prognosis of patients. The Wnt/Beta-catenin pathway has also become a research highlight in tumor diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. In addition, nuclear expression of Beta-catenin is considered as an important pathological feature of fibromatosis.