Wnt signaling in regulation of biological functions of the nurse cell harboring Trichinella spp.

Background: the nurse cell (nc) constitutes in mammalian skeletal muscles a confined intracellular niche to support the metabolic needs of muscle larvae of trichinella spp. encapsulating species. the main biological functions of nc were identified as hypermitogenic growth arrest and pro-inflammatory phenotype,both inferred to depend on ap-1 (activator protein 1) transcription factor. since those functions,as well as ap-1 activity,are known to be regulated among other pathways,also by wnt (wingless-type of mouse mammary tumor virus integration site) signaling,transcription profiling of molecules participating in wnt signaling cascades in nc,was performed. methods: wnt signaling-involved gene expression level was measured by quantitative rt-pcr approach with the use of qiagen rt2 profiler pcr arrays and complemented by that obtained by searching microarray data sets characterizing nc transcriptome. results: the genes involved in inhibition of canonical wnt/β-catenin signaling cascade as well as leading to β-catenin degradation were found expressed in nc at high level,indicating inhibition of this cascade activity. high expression in nc of genes transmitting the signal of wnt non-canonical signaling cascades leading to activation of ap-1 transcription factor,points to predominant role of non-canonical wnt signaling in a long term maintenance of nc biological functions. conclusions: canonical wnt/β-catenin signaling cascade is postulated to play a role at the early stages of nc formation when muscle regeneration process is triggered. following mis-differentiation of infected myofiber and setting of nc functional specificity,are inferred to be controlled among other pathways,by wnt non-canonical signaling cascades. © 2016 the author(s).