GSK3B and colorectal carcinoma: p38α thus seems to play a dual role in the Wnt signaling pathway: the first in the cytoplasm, where it phosphorylates GSK3β, thereby inactivating its kinase activity and thus promoting β-catenin nuclear translocation, as shown in thymocytes by Thornton and colleagues [25] and confirmed in our CRC model (Additional file 1: Fig. S1A, B); and the second in the nucleus, where it supports β-catenin transcriptional activity directly on chromatin [18].