Regulation of protein tyrosine kinases in tumour cells by the transcription factor Ets-1.

Tyrosine phosphorylation is one of the key covalent modifications that occurs in multicellular organisms as a result of intercellular communication. The family of tyrosine kinases (PTKs) are responsible for part of the cellular phosphorylation and are involved in a broad variety of cellular functions including differentiation, proliferation, migration, invasion, angiogenesis and survival under physiological as well as pathological conditions. Aberration in PTK signalling occurs in inflammatory diseases and diabetes, and aberrant expression can lead to benign proliferative conditions as well as to various forms of cancer.