title: RUNX2 and the PI3K/AKT axis reciprocal activation as a driving force for tumor progression.
abstract: From the first reported role of the transcription factor RUNX2 in osteoblast and chondrocyte differentiation and migration to its involvement in promigratory/proinvasive behavior of breast, prostate, and thyroid cancer cells, osteosarcoma, or melanoma cells, RUNX2 currently emerges as a key player in metastasis. In this review, we address the interaction of RUNX2 with the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, one of the critical axes controlling cancer growth and metastasis. AKT, either by directly phosphorylating/activating RUNX2 or phosphorylating/inactivating regulators of RUNX2 stability or activity, contributes to RUNX2 transcriptional activity. Reciprocally, the activation of the PI3K/AKT pathway by RUNX2 regulation of its different components has been described in non-transformed and transformed cells. This mutual activation in the context of cancer cells exhibiting constitutive AKT activation and high levels of RUNX2 might constitute a major driving force in tumor progression and aggressiveness.
authors.affiliation: Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology - Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 195 Little Albany Street, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08903, USA. cohenska@cinj.rutgers.edu.
authors.forename: Karine A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Cohen-Solal
authors.affiliation: Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology - Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 195 Little Albany Street, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08903, USA.
authors.forename: Rajeev K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Boregowda
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey, 08854, USA.|Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08903, USA.
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lasfar
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000378:metabolism*; D050659:Core Binding Factor Alpha 1 Subunit / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018450:Disease Progression; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D011485:Protein Binding; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000378:metabolism; D018631:ras Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D050659:Core Binding Factor Alpha 1 Subunit; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D018631:ras Proteins