AKT signaling in physiology and disease.

The serine/threonine kinase AKT functions as a critical mediator of signaling downstream of PI3 kinase. Studies over the last two decades have firmly established the importance of AKT in the regulation of cell survival, proliferation, and insulin-dependent metabolic cell responses. AKT executes these diverse tasks through phosphorylation of numerous cellular substrates.

AKT-independent signaling downstream of oncogenic PIK3CA mutations in human cancer.

Dysregulation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling pathway occurs frequently in human cancer. PTEN tumor suppressor or PIK3CA oncogene mutations both direct PI3K-dependent tumorigenesis largely through activation of the AKT/PKB kinase. However, here we show through phosphoprotein profiling and functional genomic studies that many PIK3CA mutant cancer cell lines and human breast tumors exhibit only minimal AKT activation and a diminished reliance on AKT for anchorage-independent growth.

Suppression of PTEN expression is essential for antiapoptosis and cellular transformation by oncogenic Ras.

Ras is one of the most commonly mutated oncogenes in the array of human cancers. The mechanism by which Ras induces cellular transformation is, however, not fully elucidated. We present here evidence that oncogenic Ras suppresses the expression of the tumor suppressor phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted from chromosome 10 (PTEN), and this action of oncogenic Ras is mediated by the Raf-mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) kinase (MEK)-ERK pathway via up-regulation of c-Jun.

Regulation of Par-4 by oncogenic Ras.

Oncogenic Ras causes down-regulation of the proapoptotic tumor suppressor gene Par-4. Replenishment of the basal levels of Par-4 results in inhibition of Ras-inducible cellular transformation. Moreover, overexpression of Par-4 (twofold to fourfold over basal levels) results in apoptosis of cells expressing oncogenic Ras.

Phosphorylation of Par-4 by protein kinase A is critical for apoptosis.

Despite distinct dissimilarities, diverse cancers express several common protumorigenic traits. We present here evidence that the proapoptotic protein Par-4 utilizes one such common tumorigenic trait to become selectively activated and induce apoptosis in cancer cells. Elevated protein kinase A (PKA) activity noted in cancer cells activated the apoptotic function of ectopic Par-4 or its SAC (selective for apoptosis induction in cancer cells) domain, which induces apoptosis selectively in cancer cells and not in normal or immortalized cells.

Suppression of PTEN expression by NF-kappa B prevents apoptosis.

NF-kappa B is a heterodimeric transcription activator consisting of the DNA binding subunit p50 and the transactivation subunit p65/RelA. NF-kappa B prevents cell death caused by tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and other genotoxic insults by directly inducing antiapoptotic target genes. We report here that the tumor suppressor PTEN, which functions as a negative regulator of phosphatidylinositol (PI)-3 kinase/Akt-mediated cell survival pathway, is down regulated by p65 but not by p50.