Research Highlight Destruction of a Destructor: A New Avenue for Cancer Therapeutics Targeting the Wnt Pathway

A new study in Nature has identified a small molecule inhibitor for the oncogenic Wnt/b-catenin pathway that is responsible for many human cancers. This inhibitor targets an unsuspected cellular enzyme, Tankyrase, which controls the destruction of a b-catenin destructor. Signaling by the Wnt family of secreted proteins plays essential roles in embryonic development and adult tissue homeosta-sis, and its deregulation has been impli-cated in many human diseases including cancers (Clevers, 2006; MacDonald et al., 2009). Indeed, a majority of colorectal cancers are associated with and likely caused by too much Wnt signaling (Kinzler and Vogelstein, 1996; Clevers, 2006). Inhibition of Wnt signaling has become an attractive strategy for cance