Variations of Proline-Rich Kinase Pyk2 Expression Correlate with Prostate Cancer Progression

doi:doi:10.1038/labinvest.3780211

Lab Invest 2001, 81:51–59

Variations of Proline-Rich Kinase Pyk2 Expression Correlate with Prostate Cancer Progression

This work was supported by grants from the Associazione Italiana Ricerca sul Cancro and from MURST/CNR "Biotecnologia."

Rosita Stanzione^1,6, Antonietta Picascia^1,2,6, Paolo Chieffi¹, Ciro Imbimbo², Alessandro Palmieri^1,2, Vincenzo Mirone², Stefania Staibano³, Renato Franco³, Gaetano De Rosa³, Joseph Schlessinger⁶ and Donatella Tramontano^4,5

¹Dipartimento di Biologia e Patologia Molecolare e Cellulare "Luigi Califano" and Centro di Endocrinologia ed Oncologia Sperimentale del CNR "Gaetano Salvatore", Benevento, Italy
²Clinica Urologica, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomorfologiche e Funzionali, Università degli Studi di Napoli "Federico II" Naples, Benevento, Italy
³Sezione di Patologia, Università degli Studi di Napoli "Federico II" Naples, Benevento, Italy
⁴Facoltà di Scienze, Università del Sannio, Benevento, Italy
⁵Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Clinica "Gaetano Salvatore", Università di Catanzaro "Magna Græcia," Catanzaro, Italy
⁶Department of Pharmacology, New York University Medical Center, New York City, New York

Correspondence: Dr. Donatella Tramontano, Dipartimento Biologia e Patologia Molecolare, e Cellulare "Luigi Califano," Via Pansini, 5 80131 Naples, Italy. E-mail: Tramontano@unisannio.it

⁶These authors contributed equally to this report: RS, AP.

Received 7 August 2000.

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Abstract

Proline-rich kinase 2 (Pyk2), also known as CAK beta (cell adhesion kinase beta ), is a cytoplasmic tyrosine kinase that is structurally related to focal adhesion kinase. Pyk2 is expressed in different cell types including brain cells, fibroblasts, platelets, and other hemopoietic cells. Pyk2 is rapidly tyrosine phosphorylated in response to diverse extracellular signals acting via different post receptor pathways. We have investigated whether this protein kinase is functionally expressed in normal and neoplastic prostate tissues. In this study, we demonstrate that Pyk2 is expressed only in normal epithelial prostate tissue and in benign prostatic hyperplasia, whereas its expression progressively declines with an increasing grade of malignancy of prostate cancer.