title: Phosphatases: Their Roles in Cancer and Their Chemical Modulators.
abstract: Phosphatases are involved in basically all cellular processes by dephosphorylating cellular components such as proteins, phospholipids and second messengers. They counteract kinases of which many are established oncogenes, and therefore kinases are one of the most important drug targets for targeted cancer therapy. Due to this relationship between kinases and phosphatases, phosphatases are traditionally assumed to be tumour suppressors. However, research findings over the last years prove that this simplification is incorrect, as bona-fide and putative phosphatase oncogenes have been identified. We describe here the role of phosphatases in cancer, tumour suppressors and oncogenes, and their chemical modulators, and discuss new approaches and opportunities for phosphatases as drug targets.
authors.affiliation: Genome Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fontanillo
authors.affiliation: Genome Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany. koehn@embl.de.
authors.forename: Maja
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Köhn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology; D009857:Oncogenes; D010744:Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; D010744:Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases
keywords: Activators; Cancer; Inhibitors; Oncogene; Phosphatases; Signaling; Tumor suppressor