title: AKT-ing out: SGK kinases come to the fore.
abstract: The success of targeted therapies in treating cancer over the last decade has been tempered by acquired drug resistance that follows long-term treatment. There is also emerging evidence for innate mechanisms of cancer cell resistance to targeted therapy that pre-exist as parallel signalling pathways. This aspect is explored by the Alessi group and collaborators from AstraZeneca in this issue of the Biochemical Journal, who identify a subset of breast cancer cell lines that are intrinsically resistant to Akt inhibition through constitutive up-regulation of the related AGC serine/threonine kinase SGK1 (serum- and glucocorticoid-regulated kinase 1). The study could help to profile tumours for sensitivity to Akt inhibitors and once more highlights the therapeutic complexity of cancer and the importance of exploring combination therapies in the clinic.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Cell Signalling, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, Charterhouse Square, London EC1M 6BQ, UK. l.moniz@qmul.ac.uk
authors.forename: Larissa S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Moniz
authors.forename: Bart
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Vanhaesebroeck
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017874:Immediate-Early Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D000099184:Serum-Glucocorticoid Regulated Kinases
chemical_list: D017874:Immediate-Early Proteins; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D000099184:Serum-Glucocorticoid Regulated Kinases