Peripheral blood monocytes (Mo) were cultured with control medium or with conditioned medium from HCT116 or Hke-3 colon cells for 48 hours. As shown here, soluble factor(s) from HCT116 and Hke-3 cells induced maturation of normal peripheral blood monocytes (Mo), demonstrated by phalloidin/DAPI staining, coupled to the release of IL-1β. IL-1β, through activation of NF-κB, induced phosphorylation of PDK1 and AKT, which inactivates GSK3β, leading to enhanced β–catenin/TCF4 transcriptional activity, and increased expression of Wnt target genes in tumor cells, including c-myc and c-jun (adapted from [65]).