New EMBO Members Review
- The EMBO Journal (2004) 23, 2707 - 2712
- doi:10.1038/sj.emboj.7600292
Published online: 1 July 2004
Subject Categories:
Defective downregulation of receptor tyrosine kinases in cancer
Kristi G Bache, Thomas Slagsvold and Harald Stenmark
- Department of Biochemistry, Norwegian Radium Hospital, Montebello, Oslo, Norway
Correspondence to:
Harald Stenmark, Department of Biochemistry, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Montebello, 0310 Oslo, Norway. Tel.: +47 2293 4951; Fax: +47 2250 8692; E-mail: stenmark@ulrik.uio.no
Received 19 April 2004; Accepted 2 June 2004
Abstract
Most growth factors control cellular functions by activating specific receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). While overactivation of RTK signalling pathways is strongly associated with carcinogenesis, it is becoming increasingly clear that impaired deactivation of RTKs may also be a mechanism in cancer. A major deactivation pathway, receptor downregulation, involves ligand-induced endocytosis of the RTK and subsequent degradation in lysosomes. A complex molecular machinery that uses the small protein ubiquitin as a key regulator assures proper endocytosis and degradation of RTKs. Here we discuss evidence that implicates deregulation of this machinery in cancer.
Keywords:
- Cbl,
- endocytosis,
- signal transduction,
- Tsg101,
- ubiquitin
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