Full Professor, Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology,  Faculty of Medicine

Vice Dean; Chair, promotions committee

The Wnt Signaling Pathway and Colorectal Cancer

The Wnt signaling pathway is involved in virtually every aspect of human development, as well as in adult homeostasis. Hyperactivation of this pathway has been linked to a wide range of cancers and especially colorectal cancer. Our aim is to understand the molecular events underlying Wnt signal transduction, as well as develop novel therapeutic strategies to fight colorectal cancer.

Current projects in the lab include:

1. Identifying and characterizing new Wnt signaling components.
2. Developing new anti-colorectal cancer treatment strategies
3. The effects of the microbiome on colorectal cancer development
4. Wnt signaling in the bloodstream

  Recent Publications

Globus O, Evron T, Caspi M, Siman-Tov R, Rosin-Arbesfeld R. (2017). High-Temperature Requirement A1 (Htra1) - A Novel Regulator of Canonical Wnt Signaling. Sci. Rep. 7(1):17995.

Rubinstein T, Shahmoon S, Zigmond E, Etan T, Merenbakh-Lamin K, Pasmanik-Chor M, Har-Zahav G, Barshack I, Vainer GW, Skalka N, Rosin-Arbesfeld R, Varol C, Rubinek T, Wolf I. (2019).  Klotho suppresses colorectal cancer through modulation of the unfolded protein. Oncogene. 38(6):794-807.

Lahav-Ariel L, Caspi M, Nadar-Ponniah PT, Zelikson N, Hofmann I, Hanson KK, Franke WW, Sklan EH, Avraham KB, Rosin-Arbesfeld R. (2019). Striatin is a novel modulator of cell adhesion. FASEB J. 33(4):4729-4740.

Margalit S, Avraham S, Shahal T, Michaeli Y, Gilat N, Magod P, Caspi M, Loewenstein S, Lahat G, Friedmann-Morvinski D, Kariv R, Rosin-Arbesfeld R, Zirkin S, Ebenstein Y. (2020). 5 Hydroxymethylcytosine as a clinical biomarker: Fluorescence-based assay for high-throughput epigenetic quantification in human tissues. Int. J Can. 146(1):115-122.

Kariv R, Caspi M, Fliss-Isakov N, Shorer Y, Shor Y, Rosner G, Brazowski E, Beer G, Cohen S, Rosin-Arbesfeld R. (2020). Resorting the function of the colorectal cancer gatekeeper adenomatous polyposis coli. Int. J Can. 146(4):1064-1074.

Wittenstein A, Caspi M, David Y, Shorer Y, Nadar-Ponniah PT, Rosin-Arbesfeld R. (2020). Serum starvation enhances nonsense mutation readthrough. J Mol. Med. 97(12):1695-1710.

Nadar-Ponniah PT, Taiber S, Caspi M, Koffler-Brill T, Dror A, Rubinstein M, Luxemburg C, Lang RA, Avraham KB*, Rosin-Arbesfeld R*. (2020). Striatin is required for hearing and affects inner hair cells and ribbon synapses. Fron. Cell. Dev. Biol 8:615. * equal contribution

Siman-Tov R, Zelikson N, Caspi M, Levi Y, Khair F, Perry C, Stauber H, Sznitman J, Rosin-Arbesfed R.  (2021). The Wnt Signaling Pathway is Active in the Circulation. Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (ATVB) 41(5):e243-e264.

Wang X, Xiao, T, Feng M, Guo B, Liu S, Jinpeng D, Liu Q, Xiao Y, Shi Y, Zhou Y, Yang M, Jiang Y, Rosin-Arbesfeld R, Shao Z, Yuk K, Zhu D. (2021). BCL9/BCL9L promotes tumorigenicity through immune-dependent and independent mechanisms in triple negative breast cancer. Oncogene. 16:2982-299. 

Evron T, Kazelnik M, Caspi M, Manber Z, Elkon R, Sklan E*, Rosin-Arbesfeld R*. (2021). A CRISPR Knockout Screen Reveals New Regulators of Canonical Wnt Signaling. * equal contribution. Oncogenesis.  22:93-70.

Wei Z, Yang M, Feng M, Wu Z, Rosin-Arbesfeld R, Dong J, Di Zhu. (2021). Inhibition of BCL9 modulates the cellular landscape of tumor-associated macrophages in the tumor immune microenvironment of colorectal cancer. Frontiers in pharmacology. 12:713331.

Evron-Levy T, Caspi M, Shorer-Arbel Y, Wittenstein A, Shomron O, Hirschberg K, Kariv K* and Rosin-Arbesfeld R*. (2022). Adnoma-Derived Organoids for Precision Therapy. Organoids. 1: 54-68.

Nahmad AN, Lazzarotto C, Zelikson N, Tenuta M, Reuveni I, Horovitz-Fried M, Dotan I, Rosin-Arbesfeld R, Voss, JE, Tsai S, Barzel A. In vivo engineered B cells retain memory and secrete high titers of anti-HIV antibodies in mice. Nature Biotechnology. (2022). 40(8):1241-1249

Siman-Tov R,  Shalabi R, Shlomai A, Goldberg E, Essa W, Shusterman E, Ablin J, Caspi M, Rosin Arbesfeld R, Sklan E.H. Elevated serum amyloid A levels contribute to increased adhesion in COVID-19 patients. International Journal of molecular science. International Journal of molecular science. (2022) 17 (22):14243.

Gilad O, Rosner G, Ivancovsky-Wajcman D, Zur R, Rosin-Arbesfeld R, Gluck N, Strul H, Lehavi D, Rolfe V, Kariv R. Efficacy of Wholistic Turmeric Supplement on Adenomatous Polyps in Patients with Familial Adenomatous Polyposis-A Randomized, Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled Study. Genes (2022). 22:2182