APC (updated August 2007)

APC is an enormous protein that has muliple roles in the cell. In the Wnt pathway, it binds to b-catenin and is necessary for its down-regulation. APC also interacts directly with Axin. Human APC1 is a major tumor suppressor gene in colon cancer. Numerous molecular lesions in the gene in cancer have been mapped. There is a natural mouse Apc1 mutant called min.

There are two human and two Drosophila APCs. The genes in Drosophila are redundant in the embryo (Ahmed 2002) and other tissues (Akong, 2002, Akong, 2002). Double mutant cells have brain phenotypes (Hayden, 2007)

Human Mouse phenotypes Zebrafish Drosophila
APC1 Apc1 (min1) Cystic renal neoplasia Qian 2004

Liver cancer Colnot 2004

APC

(heart valve phenotype)

DAPC
APC2 Apc2 DAPC2