the comparative role of bamlet and 5-fluorouracil in colorectal cancer cells by targeting wnt/β-catenin pathway

Background: aberrant activation of the wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is involved in various types of cancers, particularly colorectal cancer (crc), which is a prevalent malignancy. targeting the wnt signaling pathway has gained a reputation as an attractive therapeutic strategy, mainly because of its potential for regulating cell proliferation, migration, differentiation, angiogenesis, and apoptosis. objectives: the aim of the current research was to investigate the effects of 5-fluorouracil (5-fu) and bovine alpha-lactalbumin made lethal to tumor cells (bamlet), a complex of oleic acid with bovine α-lactalbumin protein, on colon cancer cells focusing on the wnt signaling pathway. methods: for this purpose, ht-29 and hct116 cells were treated with 5-fu and bamlet, and the expression levels of wnt signaling-related proteins ( β-cateninand e-cadherin) and vegfas angiogenesis regulators were evaluated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (rt-qpcr) and western blot analysis. results: bovine alpha-lactalbumin made lethal to tumor cells treatment down-regulated the expression of β-cateninand up-regulated the expression of e-cadherinsignificantly compared to the 5-fu (p < 0.0001). the reduced mrna levels of vegfin treated cells revealed the effectiveness of 5-fu and bamlet on angiogenesis. conclusions: bovine alpha-lactalbumin made lethal to tumor cells can be considered for targeting the wnt signaling pathway and angiogenesis. it is amenable to further investigation in the development of crc treatment.