Axin and Axin2 Studied in Mutant Mouse for Functional Equivalence

Lead Inventor: Franklin D. Costantini, Ph.D. Axin and Axin2 Differences Studied for Investigating Diseases such as Cancer Axin is a ubiquitously expressed negative regulator that plays a significant role in the Wnt signaling pathway. Axin2 is a similar protein that shares several domains and binding sites with Axin, but is expressed in tissue- and developmental-stage-specific patterns and does not appear to be fully redundant with Axin in vivo in light of its inability to compensate for the total absence of Axin during embryonic development. Given that both Axin and Axin2 mutations have been observed in a number of cancers, there is reason to study the functional differences between these two proteins. Axin and Axin2 Proteins in Mutant Mouse Shown to be Largely Functionally Equivalent The technology is a mutant mouse in which exon 2 of the Axin gene has been replaced with a cDNA sequence that encodes Axin2; mice homozygous for the resulting allele ubiquitously express Axin2. Apart from a reduction in birth weight, these mice exhibit normal fertility, life span, behavior, and histology. This demonstrates that the Axin and Axin2 proteins are largely functionally equivalent in vivo. Applications: • The technology can be used as a control for studying the functional equivalence of Axin and Axin2. • The technology can be used to investigate diseases that are affected by the Wnt signaling pathway. Advantages: • The technology sheds light on Axin2, which has been studied less extensively than Axin. Patent Status: Copyright/Material Licensing Status: Available for Sponsored Research Support Publications: Mouse Axin and Axin2/Conductin Proteins are Functionally Equivalent in Vivo, I.V. Chia and F. Costantini, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Vol. 25, No. 11, Jun. 2005, pp. 4371-4376. Express Licensing: https://flintbox.com/public/project/7667/