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Constitutive phosphorylation of Akt/PKB protein in acute myeloid leukemia: its significance as a prognostic variable

Leukemia volume 17, pages 995–997 (2003)Cite this article

TO THE EDITOR

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a clonal disease characterized by a myriad of genetic abnormalities of a malignant clone, including translocations involving oncogenes and transcription factors, alterations to growth factor receptors and activation of signal transduction pathways.1,2,3 Akt or protein kinase B (Akt/PKB), a serine/threonine protein kinase, has emerged as a crucial regulator of widely divergent cellular processes, including apoptosis, proliferation, differentiation and metabolism. Phosphorylation at the threonine residue-308 (pThr308) and serine residue-473 (pSer473) occurs in response to diverse stimuli, such as hormones, growth factors and extracellular matrix components. Phosphorylation of Thr308 is dependent on the products of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI-3K).4 The mechanism of Ser473 phosphorylation remains less clear. Recent evidences indicate that constitutive activation of Akt/PKB is frequently observed in various cancers.5,6,7,8 The level of Akt/PKB expression and kinase activity are often associated with the degree of differentiation, hormone dependency, aggressive characteristics of tumor cells or prognosis.7,8 However, the constitutive phosphorylation of Akt/PKB and its clinical significance in AML have not been evaluated yet. Here, we investigated the state of constitutive phosphorylation of Akt/PKB in AML cells, and analyze its significance as a prognostic variable.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by a grant of the Korea Health Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (02-PJ1-PG3-20802-0005).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul, Korea

    Y H Min, J W Cheong, H O Maeng, S T Lee, J S Hahn & Y W Ko

  2. Clinical Research Center, Seoul, Korea

    J I Eom, J Y Kim & H K Jeung

  3. BK21 Project for Medical Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

    Y H Min

  4. Department of Internal Medicine, Sunggeuankwan University, School of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Korea

    M H Lee

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  1. Y H Min
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Min, Y., Eom, J., Cheong, J. et al. Constitutive phosphorylation of Akt/PKB protein in acute myeloid leukemia: its significance as a prognostic variable. Leukemia 17, 995–997 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2402874

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