The regulatory roles of phosphatases in cancer

• Published in: Oncogene Vol. 33; no. 8; pp. 939 - 953
• Main Authors: Stebbing, J, Lit, L C, Zhang, H, Darrington, R S, Melaiu, O, Rudraraju, B, Giamas, G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 20.02.2014; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/45/607; 631/67/581; 692/699/67; Apoptosis; Cancer; Cell Biology; Cell cycle; Chromosome 10; Esophageal cancer; Human Genetics; Humans; Internal Medicine; Kinases; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Neoplasms - classification; Neoplasms - enzymology; Oncology; Phosphatase; Phosphoprotein Phosphatases - metabolism; Post-translation; PTEN protein; review; Tensin; Tumor suppressor genes; Tumors; United Kingdom > UK; solid tumours; cancer; phosphatases
• ISSN: 0950-9232; 1476-5594
• DOI: 10.1038/onc.2013.80

The relevance of potentially reversible post-translational modifications required for controlling cellular processes in cancer is one of the most thriving arenas of cellular and molecular biology. Any alteration in the balanced equilibrium between kinases and phosphatases may result in development and progression of various diseases, including different types of cancer, though phosphatases are relatively under-studied. Loss of phosphatases such as PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10), a known tumour suppressor, across tumour types lends credence to the development of phosphatidylinositol 3—kinase inhibitors alongside the use of phosphatase expression as a biomarker, though phase 3 trial data are lacking. In this review, we give an updated report on phosphatase dysregulation linked to organ-specific malignancies.