Possible Drug Target Regulates Pseudopodia Formation in Cancer Cells

Cancer researchers have identified a previously unknown kinase, pseudopodium-enriched atypical kinase one (PEAK1), which they found to be an important cytoskeletal regulatory kinase and a possible target for anticancer therapy.

Cancer cells beginning the process of metastasis form protrusions that extend from their cytoskeleton as pseudopodia. Understanding the molecular basis for pseudopodia formation was the goal of a study recently published in the June 1, 2010, online edition of the journal the Proceedings of the [U.S.] National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Investigators at the University of California, San Diego (USA) identified a 190-kDa tyrosine kinase that was localized to actin filaments and focal adhesions in samples of mouse carcinomas. PEAK1 was shown to operate downstream of integrin and epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR) to control cell spreading, migration, and proliferation. Blocking PEAK1 activity in cancer cells altered anchorage-independent growth and tumor progression in mice.

Of particular interested was the finding that primary and metastatic samples from colon cancer patients displayed amplified PEAK1 levels in 81% of the cases.

These findings led the authors to conclude that, "PEAK1 is an important cytoskeletal regulatory kinase and a possible target for anticancer therapy.”

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University of California, San Diego