Abstract
Dact3 is a negative regulator of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. c-Myb promotes tumor cell invasion through Wnt/β-catenin pathway. However, the detailed mechanism by which Dact3 and c-Myb modulate the progression of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains unclear. In this study, the expressions of Dact3 and c-Myb in 254 surgically resected NSCLC samples were detected by immunohistochemistry. We transfected Dact3 cDNA to A549 and H157 cells or siRNA-Dact3 to SPC cells and examined above effects on the activity of Wnt/β-catenin signaling by Western blot and luciferase activity assay, in addition to cell biological behavior by Transwell and MTT assay. Dact3 expression was reduced in NSCLC tissue. Reduced Dact3 expression was correlated with lymph node metastasis and poor prognosis of NSCLC (P<0.05). In addition, Dact3 expression was negatively correlated with the c-Myb expression (R = -0.626, P<0.05). Dact3 transfection resulted in c-Myb reduced expression in NSCLC cells, as well as decreased activity of Wnt/β-catenin signaling and reduced cell invasive and proliferative capacity. siRNA-Dact3 transfection had the opposite effect. Our results indicate that Dact3 may inhibit the malignant phenotype of NSCLC through downregulation of c-Myb.