FBS Colloquia No.388Laboratory of Medical Biochemistry

How Does ERK Signaling Behave in Non-dividing Cells? Lessons from Cancer and Cardiomyocytes

The ERK signaling pathway is a well-known proliferative signaling cascade, commonly described in life science textbooks. In various cancers, mutations in the genes constituting this pathway lead to constitutive activation of ERK signaling. The fact that several molecular target drugs against this pathway have already been approved highlights its critical role as a major proliferative signaling pathway in cancer. This signaling cascade is often likened to an “accelerator” and a “brake.” When proliferative signals become excessively activated (the accelerator), cells activate suppressive mechanisms (the brake) to prevent tumorigenesis. While dysfunction of this braking mechanism is frequently observed in cancer cells, our investigation using colorectal cancer cells revealed intriguing phenotypic differences depending on the cell type. Furthermore, we also examined how this pathway behaves in cardiomyocytes, which are terminally differentiated and non-dividing cells, and we would like to share those findings as well.