J Cancer 2016; 7(2):174-183. doi:10.7150/jca.13387 This issue Cite
Review
1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular & Cellular Biology and Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC USA.
2. Center of Excellence in Genomic Medicine Research (CEGMR), King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Adult colorectal epithelium undergoes continuous renewal and maintains homeostatic balance through regulated cellular proliferation, differentiation, and migration. The canonical Wnt signaling pathway involving the transcriptional co-activator β-catenin is important for colorectal development and normal epithelial maintenance, and deregulated Wnt/β-catenin signaling has been implicated in colorectal carcinogenesis. Colorectal carcinogenesis has been linked to radiation exposure, and radiation has been demonstrated to alter Wnt/β-catenin signaling, as well as the proteasomal pathway involved in the degradation of the signaling components and thus regulation of β-catenin. The current review discusses recent progresses in our understanding of colorectal carcinogenesis in relation to different types of radiation and roles that radiation quality plays in deregulating β-catenin and ubiquitin-proteasome pathway (UPP) for colorectal cancer initiation and progression.
Keywords: APCMin/+, Intestinal tumor, Space radiation, High-LET radiation, Tumorigenesis, Proteasome, β-catenin, HZE-particles