ABSTRACT. The Wnt signaling pathway plays a key role in insurgence and progression of many different forms of cancer. Some crucial components of the Wnt pathway have been proposed to be novel targets for cancer therapy. To date, the Wnt signaling pathway has not been studied in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC). This study was designed to investigate the expression of Wnt1 and SFRP1 from the Wnt pathway in CSCC. Tissue samples were obtained from 35 patients with CSCC and 30 controls admitted to the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region People's Hospital at Urumchi City, China. Gene and protein expressions of Wnt1 and SFRP1 were quantified by immunohistochemistry and western blotting. Wnt1 expression was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in CSCC samples than in normal skin cells of the control subjects; in contrast, SFRP1 expression was significantly lower in CSCC tissues than that in tissues of control subjects (P < 0.05). Moreover, Wnt1 expression (P < 0.05) was found to be correlated with histopathological differentiation in CSCC, and negatively correlated with SFRP1 expression in CSCC (r s = -0.473, P = 0.015). Therefore, we concluded that Wnt1 and SFRP1 play important roles in the development of CSCC and could be potent markers for diagnosis, prevention, and therapy of CSCC.

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We studied hsBAFF activity in in vitro mouse splenic B cells. hsBAFF effects on intracellular free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) were assayed, using a laser scanning confocal microscope with fluorescent probe, Fluo-3/AM. We showed that treatment of B cells with 0.5-5 μg/ml hsBAFF resulted in significantly higher [Ca2+]i levels in a dose-dependent fashion at 12 and 24 h, respectively (p<0.05 or p<0.01 vs. control). Furthermore, we noticed that 2.5 μg/ml hsBAFF-treated cells were significantly resistant to decrease of cellular viability induced by thapsigargin (Tg), an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Ca2+-ATPase inhibitor (p<0.05 hsBAFF plus Tg group vs. Tg group). Thus hsBAFF may promote B cell survival by direct upregulation of [Ca2+]i physiological homeostasis contributing to prevention of [Ca2+]i dysfunction. Using immunocytochemistry and Western blot analysis, we found that the activation of ERK1/2 due to hsBAFF was triggered by a [Ca2+]i-dependent pathway, leading to elevation of B cell proliferation. This is supported by the findings that intracellular Ca2+ chelator BAPTA/AM attenuated phosphorylated ERK1/2 expression and cell proliferation in hsBAFF-stimulated B cells. hsBAFF-stimulated B cell proliferation was obviously reduced by mitogen extracellular kinase 1/2 (MEK1/2, upstream of ERK1/2) inhibitor U0126. Taken together, the main finding of this study is that hsBAFF elicits higher but homeostatic [Ca2+]i levels, which regulates ERK1/2 activity and cell proliferation in in vitro B cells.