The translation initiation complex 4F (eIF4F) is a rate-limiting factor in protein synthesis. Alterations in eIF4F activity are linked to several diseases, including cancer and infectious diseases. To this end, coronaviruses require eIF4F complex activity to produce proteins essential for their life cycle.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDisturbance of the dynamic balance between tyrosine phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of signaling molecules, controlled by protein tyrosine kinases and protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs), is known to lead to the development of cancer. While most approved targeted cancer therapies are tyrosine kinase inhibitors, PTPs have long been stigmatized as undruggable and have only recently gained renewed attention in drug discovery. One PTP target is the Src-homology 2 domain-containing phosphatase 2 (SHP2).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMany human diseases are the result of abnormal expression or activation of protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) and protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs). Not surprisingly, more than 30 tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are currently in clinical use and provide unique treatment options for many patients. PTPs on the other hand have long been regarded as "undruggable" and only recently have gained increased attention in drug discovery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObesity-associated insulin resistance plays a central role in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. A promising approach to decrease insulin resistance in obesity is to inhibit the protein tyrosine phosphatases that negatively regulate insulin receptor signaling. The low-molecular-weight protein tyrosine phosphatase (LMPTP) acts as a critical promoter of insulin resistance in obesity by inhibiting phosphorylation of the liver insulin receptor activation motif.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe nonreceptor protein-tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) SHP2 is encoded by the proto-oncogene and is a ubiquitously expressed key regulator of cell signaling, acting on a number of cellular processes and components, including the Ras/Raf/Erk, PI3K/Akt, and JAK/STAT pathways and immune checkpoint receptors. Aberrant SHP2 activity has been implicated in all phases of tumor initiation, progression, and metastasis. Gain-of-function mutations drive oncogenesis in several leukemias and cause developmental disorders with increased risk of malignancy such as Noonan syndrome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDisrupting the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4F (eIF4F) complex offers an appealing strategy to potentiate the effectiveness of existing cancer therapies and to overcome resistance to drugs such as BRAF inhibitors (BRAFi). Here, we identified and characterized the small molecule SBI-0640756 (SBI-756), a first-in-class inhibitor that targets eIF4G1 and disrupts the eIF4F complex. SBI-756 impaired the eIF4F complex assembly independently of mTOR and attenuated growth of BRAF-resistant and BRAF-independent melanomas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProtein tyrosine phosphorylation is a key regulatory mechanism in eukaryotic cell physiology. Aberrant expression or function of protein tyrosine kinases and protein tyrosine phosphatases can lead to serious human diseases, including cancer, diabetes, as well as cardiovascular, infectious, autoimmune, and neuropsychiatric disorders. Here, we give an overview of the protein tyrosine phosphatase superfamily with its over 100 members in humans.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSCF (Skp1/Cul1/F-box) ubiquitin ligases act as master regulators of cellular homeostasis by targeting key proteins for ubiquitylation. Here, we identified a hitherto uncharacterized F-box protein, FBXO28 that controls MYC-dependent transcription by non-proteolytic ubiquitylation. SCF(FBXO28) activity and stability are regulated during the cell cycle by CDK1/2-mediated phosphorylation of FBXO28, which is required for its efficient ubiquitylation of MYC and downsteam enhancement of the MYC pathway.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe antiadhesive extracellular matrix molecule tenascin-C abrogates cell spreading on fibronectin through competitive inhibition of syndecan-4, thereby preventing focal adhesion kinase (FAK) activation and triggering enhanced proteolytic degradation of both RhoA and tropomyosin 1 (TM1). Here, we show that simultaneous signaling by lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) initiates glioma cell spreading and migration through syndecan-4-independent activation of paxillin and FAK and by stabilizing expression of RhoA, TM1, TM2, and TM3. By using gene silencing methods, we show that paxillin, TM1, TM2, and TM3 are essential for LPA/PDGF-induced cell spreading on a fibronectin/tenascin-C (FN/TN) substratum.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTenascin-C, an extracellular matrix molecule of the tumor-specific microenvironment, counteracts the tumor cell proliferation-suppressing effect of fibronectin by blocking the integrin alpha(5)beta(1)/syndecan-4 complex. This causes cell rounding and stimulates tumor cell proliferation. Tenascin-C also stimulates endothelin receptor type A (EDNRA) expression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF) exerts several functions in physiological and pathological processes, among them the induction of epithelial cell scattering and motility. Its pivotal role in angiogenesis, tumor progression, and metastasis is evident; however, the underlying molecular mechanisms are still poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that HGF induces scattering of epithelial cells by upregulating the expression of Snail, a transcriptional repressor involved in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe proteasome is a multisubunit complex with a central role in non-lysosomal proteolysis and the processing of proteins for presentation by the MHC class I pathway. The 16kDa proteasome maturation protein POMP (also named proteassemblin or hUmp1) acts as a chaperone and is essential for the maturation of the 20S proteasome proteolytic core complex. However, the exact mechanism, timing and localisation of mammalian proteasome assembly remains elusive.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF