Activation of Wnt/β-catenin Signaling Blocks Monocyte-Macrophage Differentiation Through Antagonizing PU.1-Targeted Gene Transcription

We have shown that β-catenin overexpression induced blockage of monocyte-macrophage differentiation by inhibiting PU.1-targeted gene transcription including Egr2 expression in myeloid progenitor cells. Our results suggest that compromised PU.1-targeted gene transcription induced by β-catenin overexpression, at least partially, may mediate a pathogenic role of β-catenin in myeloid leukemia. PUER cells were infected with retrovirus expressing beta-catenin-S33Y or control vector MIGR1. Five days after infection, the GFP positive cells were sorted by flow cytometry, and were treated with 4-OHT to induce the expression of PU.1. Total RNA was exacted from cell samples and purified by RNeasy Micro kit (Qiagen). cRNAs were generated and hybridized to the mouse whole genome 4×44K arrays according to manufacturer’s instructions (Agilent Technologies).