Effects of Wnt proteins on cell proliferation and apoptosis in HEK293 cells

Wnt proteins and Wnt signalings have been implicated in a variety of development and cell processes, while aberrant activation of Wnt signaling is linked to a range of cancers in many tissues. In this study, we used the HEK293 cell line to investigate the effects of Wnt3a and Wnt5a on proliferation and apoptosis in a serum starvation culture. After Wnt3a and Wnt5a proteins were expressed, they both promoted the proliferation of HEK293 cells under serum starvation. After 48 h of serum starvation, both Wnt3a and Wnt5a inhibited serum starvation-induced apoptosis of HEK293 cells and continued up to 96 h. We demonstrated that Wnt3a and Wnt5a can promote proliferation of HEK293 cells and inhibit serum starvation-induced apoptosis, which implies that Wnt3a and Wnt5a can maintain the survival of HEK293 cells under stress, and also provide a novel insight into the role of Wnt3a and Wnt5a and their related signalings in carcinogenesis. (C) 2008 International Federation for Cell Biology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.