As the disruption of signaling proteins often contributes to cancer, these same proteins can potentially serve as biomarkers of a patient’s prognosis and treatment options. A recent report from Liu et al. analyzed the Drosophila signaling network that is necessary for correct body segmentation during fly development. They identified a new protein, D-SPOP (Drosophila speckle-type POZ protein), involved in the JNK pathway. JNK plays a role in cell survival and death, and can contribute to the progression of cancer. They found that the human homologue of D-SPOP is highly expressed in metastases from primary renal carcinomas, suggesting that it may serve as a valuable biomarker for human metastatic disease.
Liu J, Ghanim M, Xue L, Brown CD, Iossifov I, Angeletti C, Hua S, Nègre N, Ludwig M, Stricker T, et al. . (2009). Analysis of Drosophila segmentation network identifies a JNK pathway factor overexpressed in kidney cancer. Science Jan 22 [Epub ahead of print] [doi: 10.1126/science.1157669].
2009
