Impact of WNT Pathway Blockade on the Biological Characteristics of Renal Tubular Epithelial Cells Stably Transfected with PAX2.

OBJECTIVE The WNT pathway might be the primary pathway for the regulation of renal development by PAX2. In this study, we aimed to observe the migration and invasion abilities of human tubular epithelial cells stably transfected with PAX2 upon the WNT pathway blockade and to investigate whether the WNT pathway is involved in the regulation of cellular biological activity by PAX2. METHODS 1. Control cells-PAX2 and control cells+PAX2 groups were formed for monitoring the expression of PAX2 and β-catenin mRNA using RT-qPCR. 2. The PAX2-expressing cells were treated with WIF-1 (5 μg/ml), WIF-1 (10 μg/ml), or WIF-1 (15 μg/ml), and the effect was analyzed by Western blotting analysis after the WNT pathway blockade. 3. The migration and invasion abilities of the PAX2-expressing cells were evaluated using cell-scratch and transwell assays after blocking the WNT pathway. RESULTS 1. RT-qPCR: The expression of PAX2 and β-catenin increased significantly in the PAX2-expressing cells (P<0.05). 2. Upon treatment with WIF-1, the expression of β-catenin in the PAX2 cells+WIF-1 5 μg/ml group, PAX2 cells+WIF-1 10μg/ml group, and PAX2 cells+WIF-1 15 μg/ml group decreased significantly compared to in the PAX2 cells-WIF-1 group (P<0.05), especially the WIF-1 (15 μg/ml) group (P<0.05). 3. The cell migration rate in the PAX2 cells + WIF-1 (15 μg/ml) group at 18 h was significantly lower than that in the PAX2 cells-WIF-1 group (P<0.05). 3. Transwell assay: the invasion ability in the PAX2 cells+WIF-1 (15 μg/ml) group was lower than that in the PAX2 cells-WIF-1 group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION WNT pathway blockade can weaken the migration and invasion abilities of PAX2-expressing cells. Moreover, the WNT pathway was observed to be associated with the regulation of cellular biological activity by PAX2.