Molecular pathways: P-Rex in cancer

A Pandiella, JC Montero - Clinical Cancer Research, 2013 - AACR
A Pandiella, JC Montero
Clinical Cancer Research, 2013AACR
P-Rex proteins are Rho/Rac guanine nucleotide exchange factors that participate in the
regulation of several cancer-related cellular functions such as proliferation, motility, and
invasion. Expectedly, a significant portion of these actions of P-Rex proteins must be related
to their Rac regulatory properties. In addition, P-Rex proteins control signaling by the
phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) route by interacting with PTEN and mTOR. The interaction
with PTEN inhibits its phosphatase activity, leading to AKT activation. The interaction with …
Abstract
P-Rex proteins are Rho/Rac guanine nucleotide exchange factors that participate in the regulation of several cancer-related cellular functions such as proliferation, motility, and invasion. Expectedly, a significant portion of these actions of P-Rex proteins must be related to their Rac regulatory properties. In addition, P-Rex proteins control signaling by the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) route by interacting with PTEN and mTOR. The interaction with PTEN inhibits its phosphatase activity, leading to AKT activation. The interaction with mTOR may be important in nutrient-stimulated Rac activation and migration. In humans, several studies have implicated P-Rex proteins in the pathophysiology of various neoplasias. Thus, overexpression of P-Rex proteins has been linked to poor patient outcome in breast cancer and may facilitate metastatic dissemination of prostate cancer cells. In addition, whole-genome sequencing described P-Rex2 as a significantly mutated gene in melanoma. Furthermore, expression in melanocytes of mutated forms of P-Rex2 found in patients with melanoma showed the protumorigenic role of these P-Rex mutations in melanoma genesis. These findings open interesting opportunities for P-Rex targeting in cancer. Moreover, the implication of P-Rex partner proteins such as Rac, mTOR, or PTEN in cancer has opened the possibility of acting on P-Rex to restrict protumorigenic signaling through these pathways. Clin Cancer Res; 19(17); 4564–9. ©2013 AACR.
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