Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

MEK Wars, a new front in the battle against cancer

Abstract

A specific inhibitor of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK or ERK) pathway is introduced as a new member in the growing search for cytostatic drugs that block tumor growth (pages 810–816).

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Intracellular signaling pathways that mediate MAPK (ERK1/2) activation after growth factor stimulation.

References

  1. Sebolt- Leopold, et al. Blockade of the MAP kinase pathway suppresses growth of colon tumors in vivo. Nature Med. 5, 810–816 (1999).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Lewis, T.S., Shapiro, P.S. & Ahn, N.G. Signal transduction through MAP kinase cascades. Adv. Cancer Res. 74, 49–139 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Cowley, S., Paterson, H., Kemp, P. & Marshall, C.J. Activation of MAP kinase kinase is necessary and sufficient for PC12 differentiation and for transformation of NIH 3T3 cells. Cell 77, 841–852 (1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Mansour, S.J. et al. Transformation of mammalian cells by constitutively active MAP kinase kinase. Science 265, 966– 970 (1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Webb, C.P., Van Aelst, L., Wigler, M.H. & Vande Woude G.F. Signaling pathways in ras-mediated tumorigenicity and metastasis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95, 8773– 8778 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Dudley, D.T., Pang, L., Decker, S.J., Bridges, A.J. & Saltiel, A.R. A synthetic inhibitor of the mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92, 7686–7689 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Okazaki, K. & Sagata, N. MAP kinase activation is essential for oncogenic transformation of NIH3T3 cells by Mos. Oncogene 10, 1149–1157 (1995).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Nishio, K. et al. Mitogen-activated protein kinase antisense oligonucleotide inhibits the growth of human lung cancer cells. Int. J. Oncol. 14, 461–469 (1999).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Duesbery, N. and Vande Woude, G.F. Anthrax lethal factor causes proteolytic inactivation of MAP-Kinase-Kinase. Lett. Appl. Microbiol. (in the press 1999).

  10. Hoshino, R. et al. Constitutive activation of the 41-/43-kDa mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway in human tumors. Oncogene 18, 813–822 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Salh, B. et al Differential cyclin-dependent kinase expression and activation in human colon cancer. Anticancer Res. 19, 741–748 (1999).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Sivaraman, V.S., Wang, H., Nuovo, G.J., & Malbon, C.C. Hyperexpression of mitogen-activated protein kinase in human breast cancer. J. Clin. Invest. 99, 1478–1483 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Mandell, J.W., Hussaini, I.M., Zecevic, M., Weber, M.J. & Vandenberg, S.R. In situ visualization of intratumor growth factor signaling: immunohistochemical localization of activated ERK/MAP kinase in glial neoplasms. Am. J. Pathol. 153, 1411–1423 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Duesbery, N.S. et al. Proteolytic inactivation of MAP-kinase-kinase by anthrax lethal factor. Science 280, 734– 737 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Duesbery, N., Webb, C. & Vande Woude, G. MEK Wars, a new front in the battle against cancer. Nat Med 5, 736–737 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/10457

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/10457

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing