Advances in Targeting Signal Transduction Pathways

// James A. McCubrey 1 , Linda S. Steelman 1 , William H. Chappell 1 , Lin Sun 1,2 , Nicole M. Davis 1 , Stephen L. Abrams 1 , Richard A. Franklin 1 , Lucio Cocco 3 , Camilla Evangelisti 4 , Francesca Chiarini 4 , Alberto M. Martelli 3,4 , Massimo Libra 5 , Saverio Candido 5 , Giovanni Ligresti 5 , Grazia Malaponte 5 , Maria C. Mazzarino 5 , Paolo Fagone 5 , Marco Donia 5 , Ferdinando Nicoletti 5 , Jerry Polesel 6 , Renato Talamini 6 , Jorg Basecke 7 , Sanja Mijatovic 8 , Danijela Maksimovic-Ivanic 8 , Michele Milella 9 , Agostino Tafuri 10 , Joanna Dulinska-Litewka 11 , Piotr Laidler 11 , Antonio B. D’Assoro 12 , Lyudmyla Drobot 13 , Kazuo Umezawa 14 , Giuseppe Montalto 15 , Melchiorre Cer…

Mutations and Deregulation of Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK and PI3K/PTEN/Akt/mTOR Cascades Which Alter Therapy Response.

The Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK and PI3K/PTEN/Akt/mTOR cascades are often activated by genetic alterations in upstream signaling molecules such as receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK). Certain components of these pathways, RAS, NF1, BRAF, MEK1, DUSP5, PP2A, PIK3CA, PIK3R1, PIK3R4, PIK3R5, IRS4, AKT, NFKB1, MTOR, PTEN, TSC1, and TSC2 may also be activated/inactivated by mutations or epigenetic silencing. Upstream mutations in one signaling pathway or even in downstream components of the same pathway can alter the sensitivity of the cells to certain small molecule inhibitors. These pathways have profound effects on proliferative, apoptotic and differentiation pathways. Dysregulation of components of these cas…

Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK and PI3K/PTEN/Akt/mTOR inhibitors: Rationale and importance to inhibiting these pathways in human health

William H. Chappell 1 , Linda S. Steelman 1,2 , Jacquelyn M. Long 2 , Ruth C. Kempf 2 , Stephen L. Abrams 1 , Richard A. Franklin 1 , Jorg Basecke 3 , Franca Stivala 4 , Marco Donia 4 , Paolo Fagone 4 , Graziella Malaponte 4 , Maria C. Mazzarino 4 , Ferdinando Nicoletti 4 , Massimo Libra 4 , Danijela Maksimovic-Ivanic 5 , Sanja Mijatovic 5 , Giuseppe Montalto 6 , Melchiorre Cervello 7 , Piotr Laidler 8 , Michele Milella 9 , Agostino Tafuri 10 , Antonio Bonati 11 , Camilla Evangelisti 12 , Lucio Cocco 12 , Alberto M. Martelli 12,13 , and James A. McCubrey 1 1 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University 2 Department of Physics, Greenville, N…

Roles of the Raf/MEK/ERK and PI3K/PTEN/Akt/mtor pathways in controlling growth and sensitivity to therapy-implications for cancer and aging

Dysregulated signaling through the Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK and PI3K/PTEN/Akt/mTOR pathways is often the result of genetic alterations in critical components in these pathways or upstream activators. Unrestricted cellular proliferation and decreased sensitivity to apoptotic-inducing agents are typically associated with activation of these pro-survival pathways. This review discusses the functions these pathways have in normal and neoplastic tissue growth and how they contribute to resistance to apoptotic stimuli. Crosstalk and commonly identified mutations that occur within these pathways that contribute to abnormal activation and cancer growth will also be addressed. Finally the recently described …

Autosomal recessive hypercholesterolemia in a Sicilian kindred harboring the 432insA mutation of the ARH gene

Abstract We describe a Sicilian family presenting a recessive form of hypercholesterolemia harboring a mutation of the autosomal recessive hypercholesterolemia (ARH) gene. In two of the three sibs, a 26-year-old male and a 22-year-old female, a severe hypercholesterolemia was diagnosed with very high levels of plasma cholesterol (15.9 and 12.2 mmol/l, respectively); tendon xanthomatas and xanthelasms were present and in the male proband was documented a diffuse coronary atherosclerotic disease with a rapid and fatal progression. Both the parents had normal or slightly increased levels of plasma cholesterol. All causes of secondary hypercholesterolemia were ruled out as well as an involvemen…

Commentary. Regulation of drug and immune resistance by YY1 in cancer.

Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK and PI3K/PTEN/Akt/mTOR cascade inhibitors: How mutations can result in therapy resistance and how to overcome resistance

// James A. McCubrey 1 , Linda S. Steelman 1 , William H. Chappell 1 , Stephen L. Abrams 1 , Richard A. Franklin 1 , Giuseppe Montalto 2 , Melchiorre Cervello 3 , Massimo Libra 4 , Saverio Candido 4 , Grazia Malaponte 4 , Maria C. Mazzarino 4 , Paolo Fagone 4 , Ferdinando Nicoletti 4 , Jorg Basecke 5 , Sanja Mijatovic 6 , Danijela Maksimovic-Ivanic 6 , Michele Milella 7 , Agostino Tafuri 8 , Francesca Chiarini 9 , Camilla Evangelisti 9 , Lucio Cocco 10 , Alberto M. Martelli 9,10 1 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA 2 Department of Internal Medicine and Specialties, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy 3 Consi…

Beta-2-glycoprotein I is growth regulated and plays a role as survival factor for hepatocytes

Beta-2-glycoprotein I (beta(2)GPI) is mainly produced by the liver and is found in plasma partially associated to lipoproteins. Although various properties have been attributed to this protein, its physiological role remains still unclear. We investigated its expression in cultured liver cells and in regenerating liver. Expression studies in HepG2 cells demonstrate that beta(2)GPI mRNA is regulated in a cell cycle-dependent manner, with very low expression in low cycling conditions and increasing levels in proliferating cells. p21 WAF-dependent growth arrest, induced by butyrate treatment, down-regulate beta(2)GPI mRNA levels. Immunolocalization in normal rat liver shows a non-homogeneous p…