Open AccessPromotion of cancer cell stemness by Ras
Author(s) -
Rohan Chippalkatti,
Daniel Abankwa
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
biochemical society transactions
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.562
H-Index - 144
eISSN - 1470-8752
pISSN - 0300-5127
DOI - 10.1042/bst20200964
Subject(s) - wnt signaling pathway , kras , biology , cancer stem cell , hedgehog , microbiology and biotechnology , centrosome , context (archaeology) , cilium , cancer research , cancer cell , cell cycle , cancer , stem cell , genetics , signal transduction , gene , mutation , paleontology
Cancer stem cells (CSC) may be the most relevant and elusive cancer cell population, as they have the exquisite ability to seed new tumors. It is plausible, that highly mutated cancer genes, such as KRAS, are functionally associated with processes contributing to the emergence of stemness traits. In this review, we will summarize the evidence for a stemness driving activity of oncogenic Ras. This activity appears to differ by Ras isoform, with the highly mutated KRAS having a particularly profound impact. Next to established stemness pathways such as Wnt and Hedgehog (Hh), the precise, cell cycle dependent orchestration of the MAPK-pathway appears to relay Ras activation in this context. We will examine how non-canonical activities of K-Ras4B (hereafter K-Ras) could be enabled by its trafficking chaperones calmodulin and PDE6D/PDEδ. Both dynamically localize to the cellular machinery that is intimately linked to cell fate decisions, such as the primary cilium and the centrosome. Thus, it can be speculated that oncogenic K-Ras disrupts fundamental polarized signaling and asymmetric apportioning processes that are necessary during cell differentiation.