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    Nat Med. 2002 Oct;8(10):1136-44. Epub 2002 Sep 16.

    Cytoplasmic relocalization and inhibition of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27(Kip1) by PKB/Akt-mediated phosphorylation in breast cancer.

    Viglietto G, Motti ML, Bruni P, Melillo RM, D'Alessio A, Califano D, Vinci F, Chiappetta G, Tsichlis P, Bellacosa A, Fusco A, Santoro M.

    Istituto di Endocrinologia ed Oncologia Sperimentale, CNR c/o Dipartimento di Biologia e Patologia Cellulare e Molecolare, Naples, Italy. viglietto@sun.ceos.na.cnr.it

    Comment in:

    The cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p27(kip1) is a putative tumor suppressor for human cancer. The mechanism underlying p27(kip1) deregulation in human cancer is, however, poorly understood. We demonstrate that the serine/threonine kinase Akt regulates cell proliferation in breast cancer cells by preventing p27(kip1)-mediated growth arrest. Threonine 157 (T157), which maps within the nuclear localization signal of p27(kip1), is a predicted Akt-phosphorylation site. Akt-induced T157 phosphorylation causes retention of p27(kip1) in the cytoplasm, precluding p27(kip1)-induced G1 arrest. Conversely, the p27(kip1)-T157A mutant accumulates in cell nuclei and Akt does not affect p27(kip1)-T157A-mediated cell cycle arrest. Lastly, T157-phosphorylated p27(kip1) accumulates in the cytoplasm of primary human breast cancer cells coincident with Akt activation. Thus, cytoplasmic relocalization of p27(kip1), secondary to Akt-mediated phosphorylation, is a novel mechanism whereby the growth inhibitory properties of p27(kip1) are functionally inactivated and the proliferation of breast cancer cells is sustained.

    PMID: 12244303 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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