title: C. elegans as a model to study PTEN's regulation and function.
abstract: PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10) has important roles in tumor suppression, metabolism, and development, yet its regulators, effectors, and functions are not fully understood. DAF-18 is the PTEN ortholog in Caenorhabditis elegans. DAF-18's role is highly conserved to human PTEN, and can be functionally replaced by human PTEN. Thus C. elegans provides a valuable model to study PTEN. This review assesses current and emerging methods to study DAF-18's regulators and functions in C. elegans. We propose genetic modify screens to identify genes that interact with daf-18/PTEN. These genes are potential targets for anticancer drug therapies. We also provide a review on the roles DAF-18/PTEN has during C. elegans development and how studying these physiological roles can provide mechanistic insight on DAF-18/PTEN function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Queen's University, 116 Barrie St., Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada. Electronic address: jun.liu@queensu.ca.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Queen's University, 116 Barrie St., Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada. Electronic address: chinsang@queensu.ca.
authors.forename: Ian D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Chin-Sang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000502:physiology*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D023421:Models, Animal; D051059:PTEN Phosphohydrolase / Q000502:physiology*; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; D051059:PTEN Phosphohydrolase; C494929:PTEN protein, human
keywords: C. elegans; DAF-18; Genetics; PTEN; Tumor suppressor