Publications by authors named "Shannon L Pankratz"
The Insulin Receptor Substrate (IRS) proteins are cytoplasmic adaptor proteins that function as essential signaling intermediates downstream of activated cell surface receptors, many of which have been implicated in cancer. The IRS proteins do not contain any intrinsic kinase activity, but rather serve as scaffolds to organize signaling complexes and initiate intracellular signaling pathways. As common intermediates of multiple receptors that can influence tumor progression, the IRS proteins are positioned to play a pivotal role in regulating the response of tumor cells to many different microenvironmental stimuli.
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- The IRS proteins are key signaling molecules that assist in cell communication and have been linked to breast cancer, specifically IRS-2's role in invasion and metastasis.
- Researchers found that tumor cells lacking IRS-2 (Irs-2-/-) showed significantly less aerobic glycolysis, which is crucial for tumor growth, compared to wild-type cells, but this could be restored by reintroducing IRS-2.
- IRS-2 also plays a vital role in regulating glucose transporter 1 (Glut1) expression, which is essential for linking glycolysis to tumor progression, and its activity depends on the mTor pathway.