title: The double face of Morgana in tumorigenesis.
abstract: Morgana is a chaperone protein able to bind to ROCK I and II and to inhibit their kinase activity. Rho kinases are multifunctional proteins involved in different cellular processes, including cytoskeleton organization, centrosome duplication, cell survival and proliferation. In human cancer samples Morgana appears to be either downregulated or overexpressed, and experimental evidence indicate that Morgana behaves both as an oncosuppressor and as a proto-oncogene. Our most recent findings demonstrated that if on the one hand low Morgana expression levels, by inducing ROCK II hyperactivation, cause centrosome overduplication and genomic instability, on the other hand, Morgana overexpression induces tumor cell survival and chemoresistance through the ROCK I-PTEN-AKT axis. Therefore, Morgana belongs to a new class of proteins, displaying both oncogenic and oncosuppressor features, depending on the specific cellular context.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, University of Torino, Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Mara
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brancaccio
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, University of Torino, Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rocca
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, University of Torino, Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Seclì
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, University of Torino, Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Busso
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, University of Torino, Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fusella
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D063646:Carcinogenesis / Q000378:metabolism*; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D028044:Phosphate-Binding Proteins; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas
chemical_list: C548819:CHORDC1 protein, human; D002352:Carrier Proteins; C000715470:MAS1 protein, human; D028044:Phosphate-Binding Proteins; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas
keywords: Morgana; ROCK; atypical chronic myeloid leukemia; chemoresistance; chord containing protein