BackgroundInformation | Cateninsareproteinsfoundincomplexeswithcadherincelladhesionmoleculesofanimalcells.Thefirsttwocateninsthatwereidentifiedbecameknownasα-cateninandβ-catenin.α-catenincanbindtoβ-cateninandcanalsobindactin.β-cateninbindsthecytoplasmicdomainofsomecadherins.Whenβ-cateninwassequenceditwasfoundtobeamemberofthearmADIllofamilyofproteins.Theseproteinshavemultiplecopiesoftheso-calledarmadillorepeatdomainwhichisspecializedforprotein-proteinbinding.Anincreaseinβ-cateninproductionhasbeennotedinthosepeoplewhohaveBasalCellCarcinomaandleadstotheincreaseinproliferationofrelatedtumors.Whenβ-cateninisnotassociatedwithcadherinsandα-catenin,itcaninteractwithotherproteinssuchasCateninBetaInteractingProtein1(ICAT)andadenomatosispolyposiscoli(APC).Recentevidencesuggeststhatβ-cateninplaysanimportantroleinvariousaspectsofliverBIOLOGyincludingliverdevelopment(bothembryonicandpostnatal),liverregenerationfollowingpartialhepatectomy,HGF-inducedhepatpomegaly,liverzonation,andpathogenesisoflivercancer.Afterphosphorylation,betacateninisrapidlydegradedintovariousfragmentsovertime(TescoG.,etal.1998.J.Biol.Chem.273(51):33909-33914). |