Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.10.2 (focal adhesion kinase)
 44,029 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Germline PTEN mutations cause Cowden syndrome (CS) and Bannayan-Riley-Ruvalcaba syndrome (BRR), two hamartoma-tumour syndromes, and somatic PTEN alterations have been shown to participate, to a greater or lesser extent, in a wide variety of sporadic neoplasia. PTEN is a tumour suppressor and dual-specificity phosphatase which affects apoptosis via its lipid phosphatase activity in the phosphoinositol-3-kinase and AKT pathway as well as inhibiting cell spreading via the focal adhesion kinase pathway. CS and BRR share some features, such as hamartomas and lipomatosis. To determine whether other syndromes characterized by overgrowth and lipomas are part of the PTEN syndrome spectrum, we ascertained six individuals with overgrowth and lipomas but who did not meet the diagnostic criteria for CS or BRR. Five had Proteus syndrome and one, a Proteus-like syndrome. When germline DNA and DNA from at least one involved tissue per case were examined for PTEN mutations, only the Proteus-like patient was found to harbour a germline R335X mutation. Interestingly, a lipomatous mass, an epidermoid naevus and arteriovenous malformation tissue, all of which were sampled from physically distinct sites, were all found to carry a second hit R130X mutation on the allele opposite the germline R335X. Both mutations have been described in CS and BRR. We postulate that the second hit, R130X, occurred early in embryonic development and may even represent germline mosaicism. Thus, PTEN may be involved in Proteus-like syndrome with its implications for cancer development in the future.
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PMID:Germline and germline mosaic PTEN mutations associated with a Proteus-like syndrome of hemihypertrophy, lower limb asymmetry, arteriovenous malformations and lipomatosis. 1074 83

PTEN is one of the most commonly mutated tumor suppressor genes in human cancer. PTEN mutations have been implicated in the development of a variety of human neoplasia, including high-grade glioblastoma, prostate, breast, endometrial, and thyroid carcinoma. Germ-line mutations of PTEN cause Cowden's syndrome (CS), a multiple hamartoma condition resulting in increased susceptibility for the development of cancer. When more than 6 months old, pten+/- mice develop a range of tumors, partially resembling the spectrum of neoplasia observed in CS patients. One-half (32 of 65) of pten+/- females developed breast tumors, whereas all (65 of 65) of the females had endometrial hyperplasia, and there was a high incidence (14 of 65) of endometrial cancer. Hamartoamous tumors of the gastrointestinal tract, as well as prostate and adrenal neoplasia, were also frequently observed. Significantly, the spectrum of neoplasia observed in pten+/- mice partially overlaps with the types of tumors frequently detected in CS patients. The majority of tumors in pten+/- mice exhibit loss of heterozygosity at the pten locus, which indicates the importance for loss of PTEN function in tumor formation. Consistent with the role of PTEN in negative regulation of PKB/Akt phosphorylation and activity, pten loss of heterozygosity is accompanied by hyperphosphorylation of PKB/Akt in tumors. Taken together, our results establish pten+/- mice as an excellent animal model system for the investigation of PTEN-related hamartoma syndromes, as well as the role of PTEN in breast and endometrial carcinogenesis.
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PMID:High incidence of breast and endometrial neoplasia resembling human Cowden syndrome in pten+/- mice. 1091 75

The dual-specificity phosphatase PTEN/MMAC1/TEP1 has recently been identified as the tumor suppressor gene most frequently mutated and/or deleted in human tumors. Germline mutations of PTEN give rise to Cowden Disease (CD), an autosomal dominantly-inherited cancer syndrome which predisposes to increased risk of developing breast and thyroid tumors. However, PTEN mutations have rarely been detected in sporadic thyroid carcinomas. In this study, we confirm that PTEN mutations in sporadic thyroid cancer are infrequent as we found one point mutation and one heterozygous deletion of PTEN gene in 26 tumors and eight cell lines screened. However, we report that PTEN expression is reduced both at the mRNA and at the protein level - in five out of eight tumor-derived cell lines and in 24 out of 61 primary tumors. In most cases, decreased PTEN expression is correlated with increased phosphorylation of the PTEN-regulated protein kinase Akt/PKB. Moreover, we demonstrate that PTEN may act as a suppressor of thyroid cancerogenesis as the constitutive re-expression of PTEN into two different thyroid tumor cell lines markedly inhibits cell growth. PTEN-dependent inhibition of BrdU incorporation is accompanied by enhanced expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27kip1 and can be overcome by simultaneous co-transfection of an excess p27kip1 antisense plasmid. Accordingly, in a subset of thyroid primary carcinomas and tumor-derived cell lines, a striking correlation between PTEN expression and the level of p27kip1 protein was observed. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that inactivation of PTEN may play a role in the development of sporadic thyroid carcinomas and that one key target of PTEN suppressor activity is represented by the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27kip1.
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PMID:PTEN expression is reduced in a subset of sporadic thyroid carcinomas: evidence that PTEN-growth suppressing activity in thyroid cancer cells mediated by p27kip1. 1091 69

Thyroid cancer is a heterogeneous disorder characterized by gene mutations that activate signaling pathways, and also by abnormalities in tumor suppressor genes and cell cycle proteins. Activation of the Akt/PKB signaling pathway appears to be an important event in thyroid tumorigenesis and, perhaps, in tumor progression too. Akt is activated in Cowden's syndrome through inactivation of PTEN, a negative regulator of Akt. Cowden's syndrome is an autosomal dominant multiorgan hamartoma syndrome characterized by benign and malignant thyroid tumors, breast cancers, and colon cancers. In addition, the Akt pathway appears to be activated in a significant proportion of sporadic thyroid cancers through activation of growth factor pathways by thyroid oncogenes and/or receptor overexpression. Disruption of PI3-kinase activity pharmacologically or disruption of Akt signaling using dominant negative cDNA expression have demonstrated salutary effects on several cancer models in vitro. Therefore, Akt represents an attractive target for pharmaceutical development for a variety of malignancies, including thyroid cancer.
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PMID:Akt: a potential target for thyroid cancer therapy. 1537 21

The phosphatase and tensin homolog located on chromosome ten, PTEN, is one of the most commonly mutated tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) in human cancer [1-3]. PTEN catalyzes the conversion of the membrane lipid second messenger PIP3 to PIP2 and is therefore a key mediator of the AKT/PKB pathway [4,5]. Although inherited PTEN mutations predispose to the development of Cowden syndrome, which is also a breast cancer susceptibility syndrome, the role of PTEN in breast tumorigenesis has been considered minor when compared to that of other TSGs such as BRCA1 or p53 [6]. There is no current evidence that mutations in PTEN account for a substantial proportion of familial breast cancer in the absence of Cowden syndrome [6]. Moreover, PTEN mutations or deletions are not common in sporadic breast tumors, especially when compared with other tumor types (<5%) such as prostate cancer [7, 8].Despite this evidence, recent studies have demonstrated that PTEN protein down-regulation is frequently observed (more than 50%) in sporadic breast tumors, highlighting the relevance of the dose of this TSG for the pathogenesis of breast cancer [7-9]. Our paper, in the last month's issue of Nature Genetics provides additional evidence of the role of PTEN dose in breast cancer susceptibility, braking current dogmas regarding the development of cancer and opening to novel clinical and therapeutic implications [10].
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PMID:PTEN breast cancer susceptibility: a matter of dose. 2227 40