Regular ArticlesSonic Hedgehog Acts as a Negative Regulator of β-Catenin Signaling in the Adult Tongue Epithelium

Wnt/β-catenin signaling has been implicated in taste papilla development; however, its role in epithelial maintenance and tumor progression in the adult tongue remains elusive. We show Wnt/β-catenin pathway activation in reporter mice and by nuclear β-catenin staining in the epithelium and taste papilla of adult mouse and human tongues. β-Catenin activation in APCmin/+ mice, which carry a mutation in adenomatous poliposis coli (APC), up-regulates Sonic hedgehog (Shh) and Jagged-2 (JAG2) in the tongue epithelium without formation of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). We demonstrate that Shh suppresses β-catenin transcriptional activity in a signaling-dependent manner in vitro and in vivo. A similar regulation and function was observed for JAG2, suggesting that both pathways negatively regulate β-catenin, thereby preventing SCC formation in the tongue. This was supported by reduced nuclear β-catenin in the tongue epithelium of Patched+/− mice, exhibiting dominant active Shh signaling. At the invasive front of human tongue cancer, nuclear β-catenin and Shh were increased, suggesting their participation in tumor progression. Interestingly, Shh but not JAG2 was able to reduce β-catenin signaling in SCC cells, arguing for a partial loss of negative feedback on β-catenin transcription in tongue cancer. We show for the first time that the putative Wnt/β-catenin targets Shh and JAG2 control β-catenin signaling in the adult tongue epithelium, a function that is partially lost in lingual SCC.