title: Survival of the weakest: signaling aided by endosomes.
abstract: The tyrosine kinase receptor c-Met plays a key role in cell proliferation, morphogenesis, and motility in response to hepatocyte growth factor. C-Met is often altered in cancer and is a major target for therapeutic intervention. Despite knowing a great deal of the molecular machinery downstream of this receptor tyrosine kinase, the spatiotemporal regulation of c-Met signaling still remains elusive. In this issue of the Journal of Cell Biology, Kermorgant and Parker (Kermorgant, S. and P.J. Parker. 2008. J. Cell Biol. 182:855-863) provide evidence for a model in which the c-Met-activated STAT3 signal is mediated by endosomal trafficking. This study elegantly highlights how weak signals can be effectively transmitted to the nucleus by exploiting endosomal compartments, raising important mechanistic implications for the signaling research community.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Marisa P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: McShane
authors.forename: Marino
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zerial
mesh_terms: D011992:Endosomes / Q000378:metabolism*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D021381:Protein Transport; D019859:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met / Q000378:metabolism; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor; C494086:STAT3 protein, human; D019859:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met
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