title: Akt, protein kinase C, and mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphorylation status in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To detect epigenetic changes in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and between metastatic and nonmetastatic tumors, we performed a systematic phosphorylation screening on different protein kinases.
  
  
  METHODS
  The phosphorylation levels of the serine-threonine kinase Akt, of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and of protein kinase C (PKC) beta and epsilon were measured in a series of 94 biopsy specimens, corresponding to 47 HNSCCs and paired controls taken from clinically uninvolved tissue of the same patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Akt and MAPK were significantly underphosphorylated (two-sided p < .004) in tumors, whereas PKCs showed no differences from control samples.Second, although in control tissue there was a significant correlation between phosphorylation levels of Akt, MAPK, and PKC (all two-sided p < .05), many correlated activations were lost in tumors and even more in lymph node-positive tumors. Finally, p44 MAPK and Akt pThr308 were phosphorylated in a coordinated fashion only in lymph node-positive tumors (two-sided p < .01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This novel evidence documents important changes in the phosphorylation program during cancer progression of HNSCC.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Morfologia ed Embriologia, Università di Ferrara, Fossato di Mortara, 64/b, 44100 Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: Lara
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tosi
authors.forename: Eliana
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rinaldi
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Carinci
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Farina
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pastore
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pelucchi
authors.forename: Lazzaro
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cassano
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Evangelisti
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Carinci
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Volinia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000556:secondary; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011493:Protein Kinase C / Q000378:metabolism*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt
chemical_list: D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; C494918:AKT1 protein, human; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D011493:Protein Kinase C; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases