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Query: EC:2.7.10.2 (
focal adhesion kinase
)
44,029
document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)
Inappropriate activation of MET, the receptor tyrosine kinase for hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), has been implicated in
tumorigenesis
. Although we have previously shown that HGF/MET signaling controls survival and proliferation of multiple myeloma (MM), its role in the pathogenesis of other B-cell malignancies has remained largely unexplored. Here, we have examined a panel of 110 B-cell malignancies for MET expression, which, apart from MM (48%), was found to be largely confined to diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCLs) (30%). No amplification of the MET gene was found; however, mutational analysis revealed 2 germ-line missense mutations: R1166Q in the tyrosine kinase domain in 1 patient, and R988C in the juxtamembrane domain in 4 patients. The R988C mutation has recently been shown to enhance
tumorigenesis
. In MET-positive DLBCL cells, HGF induces MEK-dependent activation of ERK and PI3K-dependent phosphorylation of
PKB
, GSK3, and FOXO3a. Furthermore, HGF induces PI3K-dependent alpha4beta1 integrin-mediated adhesion to VCAM-1 and fibronectin. Within the tumor microenvironment of DLBCL, HGF is provided by macrophages, whereas DLBCL cells themselves produce the serine protease HGF activator (HGFA), which autocatalyzes HGF activation. Taken together, these data indicate that HGF/MET signaling, and secretion of HGFA by DLBCL cells, contributes to lymphomagenesis in DLBCL.
...
PMID:Functional analysis of HGF/MET signaling and aberrant HGF-activator expression in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. 1618 74
Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) has oncogenic potential. The biological effects of STAT3 have not been studied extensively in the pathogenesis of colon cancer, nor has the role of
Janus kinase 3
(
JAK3
), the physiological activator of STAT3, been evaluated. Here, we demonstrate that activated STAT3 (pSTAT3) and activated
JAK3
(pJAK3) are expressed constitutively in two colon cancer cell lines, SW480 and HT29. To evaluate the significance of
JAK3
/STAT3 signaling, we inhibited
JAK3
with AG490 and STAT3 with a dominant-negative construct. Inhibition of
JAK3
down-regulated pSTAT3. The blockade of
JAK3
/STAT3 signaling significantly decreased viability of colon cancer cells due to apoptosis and cell-cycle arrest through down-regulation of Bcl-2, Bcl-X(L), Mcl-1, and cyclin D2 and up-regulation of p21(waf1/cip1) and p27(kip1). We also examined histological sections from 22 tumors from patients with stage II or stage IV colon cancer and found STAT3,
JAK3
, and their activated forms to be frequently expressed. Furthermore, quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction identified
JAK3
mRNA in colon cancer cell lines and primary tumors. Our findings illustrate the biological importance of
JAK3
/STAT3 activation in the
oncogenesis
of colon cancer and provide novel evidence that
JAK3
is expressed and contributes to STAT3 activation in this malignant neoplasm.
...
PMID:Constitutive activation of JAK3/STAT3 in colon carcinoma tumors and cell lines: inhibition of JAK3/STAT3 signaling induces apoptosis and cell cycle arrest of colon carcinoma cells. 1619 33
Many cancers possess elevated levels of PtdIns(3,4,5)P(3), the second messenger that induces activation of the protein kinases
PKB
/Akt and S6K and thereby stimulates cell proliferation, growth, and survival. The importance of this pathway in
tumorigenesis
has been highlighted by the finding that PTEN, the lipid phosphatase that breaks down PtdIns(3,4,5)P(3) to PtdIns(4,5)P(2), is frequently mutated in human cancer. Cells lacking PTEN possess elevated levels of PtdIns(3,4,5)P(3),
PKB
, and S6K activity and heterozygous PTEN(+/-) mice develop a variety of tumors. Knockout of PKBalpha in PTEN-deficient cells reduces aggressive growth and promotes apoptosis, whereas treatment of PTEN(+/-) mice with rapamycin, an inhibitor of the activation of S6K, reduces neoplasia. We explored the importance of PDK1, the protein kinase that activates
PKB
and S6K, in mediating
tumorigenesis
caused by the deletion of PTEN. We demonstrate that reducing the expression of PDK1 in PTEN(+/-) mice, markedly protects these animals from developing a wide range of tumors. Our findings provide genetic evidence that PDK1 is a key effector in mediating neoplasia resulting from loss of PTEN and also validate PDK1 as a promising anticancer target for the prevention of tumors that possess elevated
PKB
and S6K activity.
...
PMID:Hypomorphic mutation of PDK1 suppresses tumorigenesis in PTEN(+/-) mice. 1624 31
The overexpression of members of the ErbB tyrosine kinase receptor family has been associated with cancer progression. We demonstrate that
focal adhesion kinase
(
FAK
) is essential for oncogenic transformation and cell invasion that is induced by ErbB-2 and -3 receptor signaling. ErbB-2/3 overexpression in
FAK
-deficient cells fails to promote cell transformation and rescue chemotaxis deficiency. Restoration of
FAK
rescues both oncogenic transformation and invasion that is induced by ErbB-2/3 in vitro and in vivo. In contrast, the inhibition of
FAK
in
FAK
-proficient invasive cancer cells prevented cell invasion and metastasis formation. The activation of ErbB-2/3 regulates
FAK
phosphorylation at Tyr-397, -861, and -925. ErbB-induced oncogenic transformation correlates with the ability of
FAK
to restore ErbB-2/3-induced mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation; the inhibition of MAPK prevented oncogenic transformation. In contrast, the inhibition of Src but not MAPK prevented ErbB-
FAK
-induced chemotaxis. In migratory cells, activated ErbB-2/3 receptors colocalize with activated
FAK
at cell protrusions. This colocalization requires intact
FAK
. In summary, distinct
FAK
signaling has an essential function in ErbB-induced
oncogenesis
and invasiveness.
...
PMID:FAK signaling is critical for ErbB-2/ErbB-3 receptor cooperation for oncogenic transformation and invasion. 1627 54
Activation of kinases signalling pathways contributes to various malignant phenotypes in human cancers, including breast tumour. To examine the possible activation of these signalling molecules, we examined the phosphorylation status in 12 protein kinases and transcription factors in normal primary human mammary epithelial cells, telomerase-immortalised human breast epithelial cell line, and two breast cancer lines, MDA-MB-468 and MCF-7, using Kinexus phosphorylated protein screening assays. The phosphorylation of
FAK
, mTOR, p70S6K, and PDK-1 were elevated in both breast cancer cell lines, whereas the phosphorylation of AKT, EGFR, ErbB2/Her2, PDGFR, Shc, and Stat3 were elevated in only one breast cancer line compared to normal primary mammary epithelial cells and telomerase-immortalised breast epithelial cells. The same findings were confirmed by Western blotting and by kinase assays. We further substantiated the phosphorylation status of these molecules in tissue microarray slides containing 89 invasive breast cancer tissues as well as six normal mammary tissues with immunohistochemistry staining using phospho-specific antibodies. Consistent findings were obtained as greater than 70% of invasive breast carcinomas expressed moderate to high levels of phosphorylated PDK-1, AKT, p70S6K, and EGFR. In sharp contrast, phosphorylation of the same proteins was nearly undetectable or was at low levels in normal mammary tissues under the same assay. Elevated phosphorylation of PDK-1, AKT, mTOR, p70S6K, S6, EGFR, and Stat3 were highly associated with invasive breast tumours (P<0.05). Taken together, our results suggest that activation of these kinase pathways by phosphorylation may in part account for molecular pathogenesis of human breast carcinoma. Particularly, moderate to high level of PDK-1 phosphorylation was found in 86% of high-grade metastasised breast tumours. This is the first report demonstrating phosphorylation of PDK-1 is frequently elevated in breast cancer with concomitantly increased phosphorylation of downstream kinases, including AKT, mTOR, p70S6K, S6, and Stat3. This finding thus suggested PDK-1 may promote
oncogenesis
in part through the activation of AKT and p70S6K and rationalised that PDK-1 as well as downstream components of PDK-1 signalling pathway may be promising therapeutic targets to treat breast cancer.
...
PMID:Elevated phosphorylation and activation of PDK-1/AKT pathway in human breast cancer. 1628 4
Expression of the human oncogene TCL1 in transgenic mice produces B-cell tumors that resemble chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) suggesting its role in B-cell
tumorigenesis
. To clarify the expression pattern and regulation of TCL1 in CLL, we assessed 213 primary tumors by immunohistochemistry (IHC), flow-cytometry and/or Western blot, using a new monoclonal antibody. TCL1 protein was detectable in the majority of CLL (90% by IHC) but showed marked variations across cases with virtual absence in approximately 10% of tumors. Higher TCL1 levels correlated with markers of the 'pre-germinal center' CLL subtype including unmutated VH status (P=0.005),
ZAP70
expression (P=0.007), and presence of chromosome 11q22-23 deletions (P=0.04). Intratumoral heterogeneity in TCL1 levels was also prominent and explained in part by markedly lower TCL1 expression in proliferating tumor cells. In vitro exposure of CLL cells to interleukin-4 (but not other growth factors) produced progressive and irreversible decrease in TCL1 protein levels in association with the onset of proliferation. TCL1 expression patterns in CLL are complex and highly dynamic and appear to reflect both the histogenetic subtypes of the disease and the growth parameters of individual tumors. The observed regulation pattern suggests that TCL1 may exert its effects predominantly in the unmutated/
ZAP70
-positive tumor subset.
...
PMID:TCL1 shows a regulated expression pattern in chronic lymphocytic leukemia that correlates with molecular subtypes and proliferative state. 1634 Oct 48
Protein tyrosine phosphorylation plays an important role in cell growth, development and
oncogenesis
. No classical protein tyrosine kinase has hitherto been cloned from plants. Does protein tyrosine kinase exist in plants? To address this, we have performed a genomic survey of protein tyrosine kinase motifs in plants using the delineated tyrosine phosphorylation motifs from the animal system. The Arabidopsis thaliana genome encodes 57 different protein kinases that have tyrosine kinase motifs. Animal non-receptor tyrosine kinases,
SRC
,
ABL
,
LYN
,
FES
, SEK, KIN and RAS have structural relationship with putative plant tyrosine kinases. In an extended analysis, animal receptor and non-receptor kinases, Raf and Ras kinases, mixed lineage kinases and plant serine/threonine/tyrosine (STY) protein kinases, form a well-supported group sharing a common origin within the superfamily of STY kinases. We report that plants lack bona fide tyrosine kinases, which raise an intriguing possibility that tyrosine phosphorylation is carried out by dual-specificity STY protein kinases in plants. The distribution pattern of STY protein kinase families on Arabidopsis chromosomes indicates that this gene family is partly a consequence of duplication and reshuffling of the Arabidopsis genome and of the generation of tandem repeats. Genome-wide analysis is supported by the functional expression and characterization of At2g24360 and phosphoproteomics of Arabidopsis. Evidence for tyrosine phosphorylated proteins is provided by alkaline hydrolysis, anti-phosphotyrosine immunoblotting, phosphoamino acid analysis and peptide mass fingerprinting. These results report the first comprehensive survey of genome-wide and tyrosine phosphoproteome analysis of plant STY protein kinases.
...
PMID:Genome-wide analysis and experimentation of plant serine/ threonine/tyrosine-specific protein kinases. 1642 65
Prolactin hormone (PRL) is well characterized as a terminal differentiation factor for mammary epithelial cells and as an autocrine growth/survival factor in breast cancer cells. However, this function of PRL may not fully signify its role in breast
tumorigenesis
. Cancer is a complex multistep progressive disease resulting not only from defects in cell growth but also in cell differentiation. Indeed, dedifferentiation of tumor cells is now recognized as a crucial event in invasion and metastasis. PRL plays a critical role in inducing/maintaining differentiation of mammary epithelial cells, suggesting that PRL signaling could serve to inhibit tumor progression. We show here that in breast cancer cells, PRL and Janus-activated kinase 2, a major kinase involved in PRL signaling, play a critical role in regulating epithelial-mesenchymal transformation (EMT), an essential process associated with tumor metastasis. Activation of the PRL receptor (PRLR), achieved by restoring PRL/
JAK2
signaling in mesenchymal-like breast cancer cells, MDA-MB-231, suppressed their mesenchymal properties and reduced their invasive behavior. While blocking PRL autocrine function in epithelial-like breast cancer cells, T47D, using pharmacologic and genetic approaches induced mesenchymal-like phenotypic changes and enhanced their invasive propensity. Moreover, our results indicate that blocking PRL signaling led to activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2) and transforming growth factor-beta/Smad signaling pathways, two major prometastatic pathways. Furthermore, our results indicate that following PRL/
JAK2
inhibition, ERK1/2 activation precedes and is required for Smad2 activation and EMT induction in breast cancer cells. Together, these results highlight PRL as a critical regulator of epithelial plasticity and implicate PRL as an invasion suppressor hormone in breast cancer.
...
PMID:Defining the role of prolactin as an invasion suppressor hormone in breast cancer cells. 1645 44
Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT) signals play important roles in cell proliferation, apoptosis, and inflammation, and they recently have been considered as therapeutic targets for suppressing
oncogenesis
and inflammatory process. Phosphatases including Src homology 2 domain-containing protein-tyrosine phosphatases (SHPs), are well known as negative regulators of the JAK-STAT pathway, but their precise mechanisms are largely unknown. Based on our previous finding that in cultured rat brain microglia, gangliosides induce rapid and transient activation of the JAK-STAT pathway, we hypothesized that raft-mediated SHP-2 activation is involved in transient activation of JAK-STAT signaling by gangliosides. We first used Western blot analysis to confirm that gangliosides rapidly induce the phosphorylation of SHP-2. This was inhibited by pretreatment with the lipid raft disrupter filipin and was restored following filipin removal. Immunostaining using antibodies directed against p-SHP-2 and flotillin-1 revealed ganglioside-induced clustering and polarization of p-SHP-2 in membrane rafts. Raft-associated regulation of SHP-2 was further demonstrated in fractionation experiments using detergent and detergent-free sucrose gradient ultracentrifugation. Rapid SHP-2 recruitment to detergent-insoluble raft fractions by gangliosides was inhibited by filipin, further indicating the involvement of rafts. We also confirmed by immunoprecipitation that SHP-2 rapidly binds in a raft-dependent manner to
JAK2
in response to gangliosides. Our study therefore showed that transient activation of the JAK-STAT pathway by gangliosides is accomplished by SHP-2 in a raft-dependent manner in brain microglia.
...
PMID:Raft-mediated Src homology 2 domain-containing proteintyrosine phosphatase 2 (SHP-2) regulation in microglia. 1650 79
Lipid second messengers, particularly those derived from the polyphosphoinositide metabolism, play a pivotal role in multiple cell signaling networks. Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) generate 3'-phosphorylated inositol lipids that are key players in a multitude of cell functions. One of the best characterized targets of PI3K lipid products is the serine/threonine protein kinase Akt (protein kinase B,
PKB
). Recent findings have implicated the PI3K/Akt pathway in
tumorigenesis
because it stimulates cell proliferation and suppresses apoptosis. However, it was thought that this signal transduction network would exert its carcinogenetic effects mainly by operating in the cytoplasm. Evidence accumulated over the past 15 years has highlighted the presence of an autonomous nuclear inositol lipid cycle, and strongly suggests that lipid molecules are important components of signaling pathways operating at the nuclear level. PI3K, its lipid product phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5) trisphosphate (PtdIns(3,4,5)P3), and Akt have been identified within the nucleus and recent data suggest that they counteract apoptosis also by operating in this cell compartment through a block of caspase-activated DNase and inhibition of chromatin condensation. In this review, we shall summarize the most updated and intriguing findings about nuclear PI3K/PtdIns(3,4,5)P3/Akt in relationship with
tumorigenesis
and suppression of apoptotic stimuli.
...
PMID:Intranuclear 3'-phosphoinositide metabolism and Akt signaling: new mechanisms for tumorigenesis and protection against apoptosis? 1651 42
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