Non-canonical β-catenin degradation mediates reactive oxygen species-induced epidermal cell death

beta-Catenin is constantly degraded through the ubiquitin-proteasomal pathway. In this study, we report that a different type of beta-catenin degradation is causally involved in epidermal cell death. We observed that reactive oxygen species (ROS) caused beta-catenin degradation in the epidermal cells through a caspase-dependent mechanism, which results in disruption of cell adhesion. Disruption of cell adhesion increased ROS and activated caspases. Upregulation of the intact beta-catenin blocked ROS accumulation and caspase activation. These results indicate that a feed-forward loop consisting of ROS, caspases activation and beta-catenin degradation induces epidermal cell death. Oncogene (2011) 30, 3336-3344; doi:10.1038/onc.2011.49; published online 7 March 2011