Abstract
Tyrosine phosphorylation has a key role in intracellular signaling. Inappropriate proliferation and survival cues in tumor cells often occur as a consequence of unregulated tyrosine kinase activity. Much of the current development of anti-cancer therapies tries to target causative proteins in a specific manner to minimize side-effects. One attractive group of target proteins is the kinases. c-Kit is a receptor tyrosine kinase that normally controls the function of primitive hematopoietic cells, melanocytes and germ cells. It has become clear that uncontrolled activity of c-Kit contributes to formation of an array of human tumors. The unregulated activity of c-Kit may be due to overexpression, autocrine loops or mutational activation. This makes c-Kit an excellent target for cancer therapies in these tumors. In this review we will highlight the current knowledge on the signal transduction molecules and pathways activated by c-Kit under normal conditions and in cancer cells, and the role of aberrant c-Kit signaling in cancer progression. Recent advances in the development of specific inhibitors interfering with these signal transduction pathways will be discussed.
Keywords: Stem cell factor, c-Kit, receptor tyrosine kinase, signal transduction, transformation, cancer, leukemia
Current Cancer Drug Targets
Title: The Stem Cell Factor Receptor/c-Kit as a Drug Target in Cancer
Volume: 6 Issue: 1
Author(s): J. Lennartsson and L. Ronnstrand
Affiliation:
Keywords: Stem cell factor, c-Kit, receptor tyrosine kinase, signal transduction, transformation, cancer, leukemia
Abstract: Tyrosine phosphorylation has a key role in intracellular signaling. Inappropriate proliferation and survival cues in tumor cells often occur as a consequence of unregulated tyrosine kinase activity. Much of the current development of anti-cancer therapies tries to target causative proteins in a specific manner to minimize side-effects. One attractive group of target proteins is the kinases. c-Kit is a receptor tyrosine kinase that normally controls the function of primitive hematopoietic cells, melanocytes and germ cells. It has become clear that uncontrolled activity of c-Kit contributes to formation of an array of human tumors. The unregulated activity of c-Kit may be due to overexpression, autocrine loops or mutational activation. This makes c-Kit an excellent target for cancer therapies in these tumors. In this review we will highlight the current knowledge on the signal transduction molecules and pathways activated by c-Kit under normal conditions and in cancer cells, and the role of aberrant c-Kit signaling in cancer progression. Recent advances in the development of specific inhibitors interfering with these signal transduction pathways will be discussed.
Export Options
About this article
Cite this article as:
Lennartsson J. and Ronnstrand L., The Stem Cell Factor Receptor/c-Kit as a Drug Target in Cancer, Current Cancer Drug Targets 2006; 6 (1) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/156800906775471725
DOI https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/156800906775471725 |
Print ISSN 1568-0096 |
Publisher Name Bentham Science Publisher |
Online ISSN 1873-5576 |
Call for Papers in Thematic Issues
Advances in Cancer Biomarkers and Potential Drug Targets: From Diagnosis to Therapy
Cancer biomarkers play a crucial role in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of cancer. They provide valuable information for cancer detection, risk assessment, treatment selection, and monitoring response to therapy. With advancements in molecular biology and high-throughput technologies, there has been an increasing interest in identifying and characterizing cancer biomarkers ...read more
Novel Therapeutic Approaches to Target Drug Resistant Tumors
With the development of disciplines such as chemical biology and molecular biology, the genes or proteins closely related to tumor occurrence and development have gradually become clear. Targeted therapies targeting these genes or proteins provide more effective methods for tumor treatment. Tumor targeted drugs generally only act on specific targets ...read more
ROLE OF IMMUNE AND GENOTOXIC RESPONSE BIOMARKERS IN TUMOR MICROENVIRONMENT IN CANCER DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT
Biological biomarkers have been used in medical research as an indicator of a normal or abnormal process inside the body, or of a disease. Nowadays, various researchers are in process to explore and investigate the biological markers for the early assessment of cancer. DNA Damage response (DDR) pathways and immune ...read more
Targeting the battlefield between host and tumor: basic research and clinical practice on reshaping tumor immune microenvironment
Immune system protects host against malignant tumors through effector cells and molecules. Cancer development and its response to therapy are regulated by inflammation, which either promotes or suppresses cancer progression. Chronic inflammation facilitates cancer progression and treatment resistance, whereas induction of acute inflammatory reactions often lead to anti-cancer immune responses. ...read more
- Author Guidelines
- Graphical Abstracts
- Fabricating and Stating False Information
- Research Misconduct
- Post Publication Discussions and Corrections
- Publishing Ethics and Rectitude
- Increase Visibility of Your Article
- Archiving Policies
- Peer Review Workflow
- Order Your Article Before Print
- Promote Your Article
- Manuscript Transfer Facility
- Editorial Policies
- Allegations from Whistleblowers
Related Articles
-
Anthracycline Cardiotoxicity: Prevalence, Pathogenesis and Treatment
Current Cardiology Reviews Molecular Advances Toward the Understanding of the Patho-Biology of Idiopathic Myelofibrosis
Current Immunology Reviews (Discontinued) Ganoderma lucidum: A Potential for Biotechnological Production of Anti-Cancer and Immunomodulatory Drugs
Recent Patents on Anti-Cancer Drug Discovery Prediction of Cancer Rescue p53 Mutants In Silico Using Naïve Bayes Learning Methodology
Protein & Peptide Letters The Origin of Lentivirus Research: Maedi-Visna Virus
Current HIV Research Perspectives for Novel Mixed Diruthenium-Organic Drugs as Metallopharmaceuticals in Cancer Therapy
Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry Notch-Associated MicroRNAs in Cancer
Current Drug Targets Chemistry and Biological Activity of [1,2,3]-Benzotriazine Derivatives
Current Organic Chemistry Multiple Metamorphoses of CD38 from Prognostic Marker to Disease Modifier to Therapeutic Target in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry Role of the Bone Marrow Microenvironment in Drug Resistance of Hematological Malignances
Current Medicinal Chemistry Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors: Molecular and Biological Activity as a Premise to Clinical Application
Current Drug Metabolism Breast Cancer, a Stem Cell Disease
Current Stem Cell Research & Therapy Biomarkers and Multiple Drug Resistance in Breast Cancer
Current Cancer Drug Targets Ellipticines as DNA-Targeted Chemotherapeutics
Current Medicinal Chemistry Multifunctional Anti-Cancer Nano-Platforms are Moving to Clinical Trials
Current Drug Metabolism Modelling and Measuring Redox Cycling and Cytotoxicity of Quinones
Drug Metabolism Letters Linezolid Activity Against Disseminated Listeria monocytogenes Meningitis and Central Nervous System Abscesses: Focus on Early Drug Myelotoxicity
Current Drug Safety Targeting Histone Deacetylases for the Treatment of Immune, Endocrine & Metabolic Disorders
Endocrine, Metabolic & Immune Disorders - Drug Targets Biomarkers of Protein Oxidation in Human Disease
Current Molecular Medicine Transposable Elements in Cancer and Other Human Diseases
Current Cancer Drug Targets