Identification and functional analysis of a phosphatase that suppresses the development of head and neck cancer

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K18757
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 56050:Otorhinolaryngology-related
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: Kurosawa Koreyuki 東北大学, 大学病院, 助教 (10770349)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: プロテインホスファターゼ / マウス発がん実験

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we generated squamous epithelium-specific double (Ppp6c deficient + mutant K-ras or Ppp6c deficient + mutant p53) or triple mutant mice (Ppp6c deficient + mutant K-ras + mutant p53) to examine the carcinogenic mechanism of the "synergistic" effect of PP6 dysfunction in head and neck tumors. In this study, we examined the mechanism of carcinogenesis by the "synergistic" effects of PP6 dysfunction in head and neck tumors. The results suggest that PP6 dysfunction acts "synergistically" on the tumorigenic potential of p53 and RAS genes.

Free Research Field

発がん、頭頸部腫瘍、新規がん抑制遺伝子

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

頭頸部扁平上皮がんの遺伝子変異の特徴として、TK-PI3K-AKT経路やp53変異の遺伝子変異が高いことがあげられる。RTK-PI3K-AKT経路を標的とした、あるいはTK-PI3K-AKT経路に加えてp53変異を標的とした新しい治療の開発が求められている。ホスファターゼ活性の調節を制御した治療開発というのは全く新しい概念であり、本研究の意義は大きい。