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The Desmoid Tumor Research Foundation

February 2016

TGF-β and CTGF are Mitogenic Output Mediators of Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling in Desmoid Fibromatosis

Author Information

Amanda E Toland,Danielle A Braggio,Jessica Gillespie,Joel Mayerson,Obiajulu H Iwenofu,Raphael Pollock,Sumi Varghese,Thomas Scharschmidt

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine †Comprehensive Cancer Center ‡Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH §Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology ∥Department of Orthopedics, The Ohio State University Medical Center.

Publication

Summary

Real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed on frozen specimens of desmoid fibromatosis (n=6) and normal skin (n=2). All 15 desmoid tumors were positive for β-catenin (surrogate marker of Wnt/β-catenin pathway dysregulation) which was negative in control normal skin and scar samples. TGF-β and CTGF were negative in 9 of 10 normal skin controls. TGF-β and CTGF were positive in all cases of scar tissue. All 15 cases of desmoid tumors were positive for TGF-β and CTGF. The real-time polymerase chain reaction showed higher expression levels of TGF-β and CTGF in desmoidfibromatosis compared with normal skin. The high constitutive expression of β-catenin downstream effectors; TGF-β, CTGF has the potential for enabling targeted therapy.

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