Developing nanoparticle inhibitors for the Wnt signaling pathway

Aamir Ahmed (primary)
Centre for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine
King's College London
Chris Howard (secondary)
Physics and Astronomy
University College London

Abstract

Wnt signaling is important during development and disease. We have discovered that Wnt signal activation is regulated by cell membrane electrical potential. The targets and mechanisms of action, part of this project, remain to be elucidated. Preliminary experiments show that nanoparticles (single walled carbon nano tubes, SWCNTs) may inhibit Wnt-signaling by acting on ion channels and/or Wnt receptors. We hypothesize that specifically designed SWCNTs act as membrane potential regulating compounds (MPRCs) to modulate the Wnt signaling activity. Development of SWCNTs as novel inhibitors for the Wnt pathway, using cutting edge biotechnology, will have wide application in basic and applied biology.


References

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2.Thrasivoulou, C, Millar, M and Ahmed, A. Activation of intracellular calcium by multiple Wnt ligands and translocation of ß-catenin into the nucleus: a convergent model of Wnt/Ca2+ and Wnt/ß-catenin pathways. J Biol Chem. 288:35651-35659,2013.
3.Reyes-Corral, M, Sørenson, N, Thrasivoulou, C, Dasgupta, P, Ashmore, J and Ahmed, A. Differential Free Intracellular Calcium Release by Class II Antiarrhythmics in Cancer Cell Lines. J Pharm Exp Therap. 369:152-162, 2019
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BBSRC Area
Molecules, cells and industrial biotechnology
Area of Biology
BiotechnologyCell Biology
Techniques & Approaches
BiochemistryBiophysicsChemistryImage ProcessingMathematics / StatisticsMicroscopy / ElectrophysiologyMolecular BiologySimulation / Modelling