A reporter gene system for screening inhibitors of Wnt signaling pathway

Abnormal activation of canonical Wnt signaling has been associated with various types of cancer. Inhibitory reagents targeting the Wnt signaling have great potential to inhibit the growth of relevant tumors. Here we generated a cell-based screening strategy for identification of antagonists of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Stable expression wnt3a was generated in HEK293 cell line, which harbors dual-luciferase reporters. The Wnt signaling in the stably transfected cell line was proved to be very sensitive to (−)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) and lithium chloride (LiCl) treatment, respectively. Natural compounds were screened and a couple of novel inhibitory modulators of the Wnt signaling pathway were obtained. [Image: see text]