Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory scientists trace a novel way cells are disrupted in cancer

Changes in the PI3K-mTOR Pathway

In the new research, Krainer's team looked for specific molecules whose concentrations or enzymatic activities changed in cells in which SF2/ASF induced cancer. They found changes in some proteins in a group known as the PI3K-mTOR pathway, which is well known for its involvement in cancers.

The team speculated that SF2/ASF, as it influences how a gene's instructions are translated into protein, might cause a protein to be assembled without a key section that is normally modified by other proteins in the pathway. Krainer cautioned that the splicing factor may act on other proteins or in other ways in the cell, so further research is needed. Nonetheless, the team's research suggests that measuring SF2/ASF levels could eventually lead to a way to identify patients who will respond to existing drugs that block the PI3K-mTOR pathway.

"The splicing-factor oncoprotein SF2/ASF activates mTORC1" appears October 2, 2008 in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The complete citation is: Rotem Karni, Yoshitaka Hippo, Scott W. Lowe, and Adrian R. Krainer <<A HREF="http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.0060103#aff1">http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.0060103#aff1> . The paper is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0801376105.

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