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Progress on Ras/MAPK Signaling Research and Targeting in Blood and Solid Cancers

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The Ras-Raf-MEK-ERK signaling pathway is responsible for regulating cell proliferation, differentiation, and survival. Overexpression and overactivation of members within the signaling cascade have been observed in many solid and blood cancers. Research often focuses on targeting the...

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Autores principales: Dillon, Martha, Lopez, Antonio, Lin, Edward, Sales, Dominic, Perets, Ron, Jain, Pooja
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8534156/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34680208
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cancers13205059
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author Dillon, Martha
Lopez, Antonio
Lin, Edward
Sales, Dominic
Perets, Ron
Jain, Pooja
author_facet Dillon, Martha
Lopez, Antonio
Lin, Edward
Sales, Dominic
Perets, Ron
Jain, Pooja
author_sort Dillon, Martha
collection PubMed
description SIMPLE SUMMARY: The Ras-Raf-MEK-ERK signaling pathway is responsible for regulating cell proliferation, differentiation, and survival. Overexpression and overactivation of members within the signaling cascade have been observed in many solid and blood cancers. Research often focuses on targeting the pathway to disrupt cancer initiation and progression. We aimed to provide an overview of the pathway’s physiologic role and regulation, interactions with other pathways involved in cancer development, and mutations that lead to malignancy. Several blood and solid cancers are analyzed to illustrate the impact of the pathway’s dysregulation, stemming from mutation or viral induction. Finally, we summarized different approaches to targeting the pathway and the associated novel treatments being researched or having recently achieved approval. ABSTRACT: The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, consisting of the Ras-Raf-MEK-ERK signaling cascade, regulates genes that control cellular development, differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis. Within the cascade, multiple isoforms of Ras and Raf each display differences in functionality, efficiency, and, critically, oncogenic potential. According to the NCI, over 30% of all human cancers are driven by Ras genes. This dysfunctional signaling is implicated in a wide variety of leukemias and solid tumors, both with and without viral etiology. Due to the strong evidence of Ras-Raf involvement in tumorigenesis, many have attempted to target the cascade to treat these malignancies. Decades of unsuccessful experimentation had deemed Ras undruggable, but recently, the approval of Sotorasib as the first ever KRas inhibitor represents a monumental breakthrough. This advancement is not without novel challenges. As a G12C mutant-specific drug, it also represents the issue of drug target specificity within Ras pathway; not only do many drugs only affect single mutational profiles, with few pan-inhibitor exceptions, tumor genetic heterogeneity may give rise to drug-resistant profiles. Furthermore, significant challenges in targeting downstream Raf, especially the BRaf isoform, lie in the paradoxical activation of wild-type BRaf by BRaf mutant inhibitors. This literature review will delineate the mechanisms of Ras signaling in the MAPK pathway and its possible oncogenic mutations, illustrate how specific mutations affect the pathogenesis of specific cancers, and compare available and in-development treatments targeting the Ras pathway.
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spelling pubmed-85341562021-10-23 Progress on Ras/MAPK Signaling Research and Targeting in Blood and Solid Cancers Dillon, Martha Lopez, Antonio Lin, Edward Sales, Dominic Perets, Ron Jain, Pooja Cancers (Basel) Review SIMPLE SUMMARY: The Ras-Raf-MEK-ERK signaling pathway is responsible for regulating cell proliferation, differentiation, and survival. Overexpression and overactivation of members within the signaling cascade have been observed in many solid and blood cancers. Research often focuses on targeting the pathway to disrupt cancer initiation and progression. We aimed to provide an overview of the pathway’s physiologic role and regulation, interactions with other pathways involved in cancer development, and mutations that lead to malignancy. Several blood and solid cancers are analyzed to illustrate the impact of the pathway’s dysregulation, stemming from mutation or viral induction. Finally, we summarized different approaches to targeting the pathway and the associated novel treatments being researched or having recently achieved approval. ABSTRACT: The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, consisting of the Ras-Raf-MEK-ERK signaling cascade, regulates genes that control cellular development, differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis. Within the cascade, multiple isoforms of Ras and Raf each display differences in functionality, efficiency, and, critically, oncogenic potential. According to the NCI, over 30% of all human cancers are driven by Ras genes. This dysfunctional signaling is implicated in a wide variety of leukemias and solid tumors, both with and without viral etiology. Due to the strong evidence of Ras-Raf involvement in tumorigenesis, many have attempted to target the cascade to treat these malignancies. Decades of unsuccessful experimentation had deemed Ras undruggable, but recently, the approval of Sotorasib as the first ever KRas inhibitor represents a monumental breakthrough. This advancement is not without novel challenges. As a G12C mutant-specific drug, it also represents the issue of drug target specificity within Ras pathway; not only do many drugs only affect single mutational profiles, with few pan-inhibitor exceptions, tumor genetic heterogeneity may give rise to drug-resistant profiles. Furthermore, significant challenges in targeting downstream Raf, especially the BRaf isoform, lie in the paradoxical activation of wild-type BRaf by BRaf mutant inhibitors. This literature review will delineate the mechanisms of Ras signaling in the MAPK pathway and its possible oncogenic mutations, illustrate how specific mutations affect the pathogenesis of specific cancers, and compare available and in-development treatments targeting the Ras pathway. MDPI 2021-10-10 /pmc/articles/PMC8534156/ /pubmed/34680208 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cancers13205059 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Dillon, Martha
Lopez, Antonio
Lin, Edward
Sales, Dominic
Perets, Ron
Jain, Pooja
Progress on Ras/MAPK Signaling Research and Targeting in Blood and Solid Cancers
title Progress on Ras/MAPK Signaling Research and Targeting in Blood and Solid Cancers
title_full Progress on Ras/MAPK Signaling Research and Targeting in Blood and Solid Cancers
title_fullStr Progress on Ras/MAPK Signaling Research and Targeting in Blood and Solid Cancers
title_full_unstemmed Progress on Ras/MAPK Signaling Research and Targeting in Blood and Solid Cancers
title_short Progress on Ras/MAPK Signaling Research and Targeting in Blood and Solid Cancers
title_sort progress on ras/mapk signaling research and targeting in blood and solid cancers
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8534156/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34680208
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cancers13205059
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