title: Interference with PDK1-Akt survival signaling pathway by UCN-01 (7-hydroxystaurosporine).
abstract: 3-Phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase-1 (PDK1) plays a central role in activating the AGC subfamily of protein kinases. In particular, PDK1 plays an important role in the regulation of Akt/PKB survival pathway by phosphorylating Akt on Thr308. Here we show that UCN-01 (7-hydroxystaurosporine), a drug now in clinical trials and with a unique fingerprint pattern, induced dephosphorylation and inactivation of Akt, resulting in the turn-off of the survival signals and the induction of apoptosis. Further analysis revealed that UCN-01-mediated Akt inactivation was caused by inhibiting upstream Akt kinase PDK1 (IC50=33 nM) both in vitro and from cells, but not by suppressing Akt itself or phosphatidylinositide-3-OH kinase. UCN-01-induced PDK1 inhibition was also observed in in vivo murine and human tumor xenografts. Overexpression of active form of Akt diminished the cytotoxic effects of UCN-01, suggesting that UCN-01 may in part exert its cytotoxicity by inhibiting PDK1-Akt survival pathway. Because UCN-01 has already proved to have potent anti-tumor activity in vivo, PDK1-Akt survival pathway is a new, attractive target for cancer chemotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan.
authors.forename: Saori
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Naoya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsuruo
mesh_terms: D064413:3-Phosphoinositide-Dependent Protein Kinases; D000470:Alkaloids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D020169:Caspases / Q000378:metabolism; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D010766:Phosphorylation; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000378:metabolism; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D019311:Staurosporine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous
chemical_list: D064413:3-Phosphoinositide-Dependent Protein Kinases; D000470:Alkaloids; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D020169:Caspases; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D019311:Staurosporine; C054852:7-hydroxystaurosporine; C494918:AKT1 protein, human; C578562:PDPK1 protein, human; C578564:Pdpk1 protein, mouse