title: Variations of proline-rich kinase Pyk2 expression correlate with prostate cancer progression.
abstract: Proline-rich kinase 2 (Pyk2), also known as CAKbeta (cell adhesion kinase beta), is a cytoplasmic tyrosine kinase that is structurally related to focal adhesion kinase. Pyk2 is expressed in different cell types including brain cells, fibroblasts, platelets, and other hemopoietic cells. Pyk2 is rapidly tyrosine phosphorylated in response to diverse extracellular signals acting via different post receptor pathways. We have investigated whether this protein kinase is functionally expressed in normal and neoplastic prostate tissues. In this study, we demonstrate that Pyk2 is expressed only in normal epithelial prostate tissue and in benign prostatic hyperplasia, whereas its expression progressively declines with an increasing grade of malignancy of prostate cancer.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biologia e Patologia Molecolare e Cellulare Luigi Califano, and Centro di Endocrinologia ed Oncologia Sperimentale del CNR Gaetano Salvatore, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stanzione
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Picascia
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chieffi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Imbimbo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Palmieri
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mirone
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Staibano
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: De Rosa
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schlessinger
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tramontano
mesh_terms: D004789:Enzyme Activation; D004848:Epithelium / Q000201:enzymology; D051417:Focal Adhesion Kinase 1; D051418:Focal Adhesion Kinase 2; D051416:Focal Adhesion Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011467:Prostate / Q000201:enzymology; D011470:Prostatic Hyperplasia / Q000201:enzymology; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D051417:Focal Adhesion Kinase 1; D051418:Focal Adhesion Kinase 2; D051416:Focal Adhesion Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; C496050:PTK2 protein, human