The serine/threonine kinase receptor-associated protein (STRAP), a scaffold protein, was recently shown to facilitate the aberrant activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in colorectal cancers.
Overall, our findings illuminated a novel STRAP-NOTCH1-HES1 molecular axis as a CSC regulator in colorectal cancer, with potential implications to improve treatment of this disease.<i></i>.
Here, in order to investigate the roles of STRAP in colorectal carcinogenesis, the expression of the STRAP protein was investigated in 59 colonic adenomas and 123 colorectal cancers by immunohistochemistry.
We have found that normal EWS protein is up-regulated in human cancers, which correlates with the up-regulation of STRAP in 71% of colorectal cancers and 54% of lung cancers, suggesting a cooperative role of these two proteins in human cancers.