Dhillon Amardeep S, Kolch Walter
The Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, Garscube Estate, Switchback Road, Bearsden, Glasgow G61 1BD, United Kingdom.
Cancer Cell. 2004 Apr;5(4):303-4. doi: 10.1016/s1535-6108(04)00087-x.
The Raf/MEK/ERK pathway is a conserved signaling module controlling cell growth, proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation. Constitutive activation of this pathway is involved in malignant transformation by several oncogenes, most notably, Ras. The recent discovery by Davies et al. of somatic mutations in the B-RAF gene in human tumors has generated enormous interest in how Raf kinases are regulated and how mutations in B-RAF lead to transformation. A recent study in Cell by Wan et al. reports the crystal structure of the B-Raf kinase domain, providing important new insights into these questions.
Raf/MEK/ERK信号通路是一个保守的信号模块，控制细胞生长、增殖、凋亡和分化。该信号通路的组成性激活与多种癌基因的恶性转化有关，其中最显著的是Ras。Davies等人最近发现人类肿瘤中B-RAF基因存在体细胞突变，这引发了人们对Raf激酶如何被调控以及B-RAF中的突变如何导致转化的极大兴趣。Wan等人最近在《细胞》杂志上发表的一项研究报告了B-Raf激酶结构域的晶体结构，为这些问题提供了重要的新见解。
