Molecular Biology Commons^™

Altered Phosphorylation Of [Beta]-Catenin In Glucocorticoid Treated 235-1 Rat Pituitary Tumor Cells, Susie K. Saunders

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Beta-catenin is an essential cell adhesion and signaling protein, associated with high prolactin levels in rat pituitary tumor cells. It has been shown that phosphorylation affects the location and activity of b-catenin. Glycogen synthase kinase (GSK3-b) is a serine-threonine kinase that phosphorylates b-catenin on N-terminal residues, targeting it for proteasomal degradation. Studies have shown that C-terminal tyrosine phosphorylation decreases the association of b-catenin with cadherin. In 235-1 rat pituitary tumor cells, our lab has shown that the glucocorticoid analog dexamethasone (Dex) decreases the half- life of b-catenin while increasing the activity of GSK3-b. The current study was undertaken to examine …