Advertisement
Advertisement
Table of Contents
Definition / generalCite this page: APC. PathologyOutlines.com website. http://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/stainsapc.html. Accessed July 12th, 2017.
Definition / general
- Adenomatous polyposis coli gene on 5q21, tumor suppressor gene, autosomal dominant
- Important for familial adenomatous polyposis and Gardner syndromes
- Binds to (a) microtubule bundles and promotes cell migration and adhesion, (b) beta-catenin (cytoskeletal protein) in a cellular adhesion complex including E-cadherin, part of Wnt signaling pathway
- Beta-catenin is also bound to a T cell factor-lymphoid enhancer factor (Tcf-Lef), which activates other genes, stimulates cell proliferation and inhibits apoptosis
- APC accelerates the proteasome-mediated degradation of beta-catenin, which reduces its role as a transactivating factor for the Tcf-Lef pathway
- Mutations in APC produce elevated levels of Tcf4-beta-catenin, which stimulates a transcriptional response that initiates polyp formation and eventually malignant growth
- APC is considered a gatekeeper gene since it directs activity downstream of different pathways
- Colon: mutations play critical role in tumorigenesis (mutations in APC or beta-catenin present in 90% of colon cancers)
Advertisement
