Tumors overcome the action of the wasting factor ImpL2 by locally elevating Wnt/Wingless
Jiae Lee, Katelyn G.‐L. Ng, Kenneth M. Dombek, Dae Seok Eom, Young V. Kwon
Abstract
Significance The cancer-derived cachectic factors induce wasting in the patient’s tissues, including muscle and adipose tissue. If cancers were to be equally affected by the cachectic factors, they must be wasted away. Nevertheless, cancers appear to grow during cachexia, suggesting a mechanism for protecting themselves from the cachectic factors. We employ Drosophila tumor models to demonstrate that a signaling protein Wingless works locally to protect tumors from the action of the secreted wasting factor ImpL2. Furthermore, we show that Wingless augmentation specifically in muscle could be exploited to attenuate systemic tissue wasting induced by localized tumors. Altogether, our study provides insights into the mechanism by which tumors evade the adverse effects induced by the wasting factors to avoid self-wasting.