PRAS40 signaling in tumor

// Dan Lv 1, * , Lianying Guo 1, * , Ting Zhang 1 and Lin Huang 1 1 Department of Pathophysiology, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, Liaoning 116044, P.R. China * These authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Lin Huang, email: lhuang@dmu.edu.cn Keywords: PRAS40, Akt, mTOR, signaling, tumorigenesis Received: December 14, 2016      Accepted: April 11, 2017      Published: April 20, 2017 ABSTRACT The proline-rich Akt substrate of 40 kDa (PRAS40) is a substrate of Akt and a component of the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1). Locating at the crossroad of the PI3K/Akt pathway and the mTOR pathway, PRAS40 is phosphorylated by growth factors or other stimuli, and regulates the activation of these signaling pathways in turn. PRAS40 plays an important role in metabolic disorders and multiple cancers, and the phosphorylation of PRAS40 is often associated with the tumor progression of melanoma, prostate cancer, etc. PRAS40 promotes tumorigenesis by deregulating cellular proliferation, apoptosis, senescence, metastasis, etc. Herein, we provide an overview on current understandings of PRAS40 signaling in the tumor formation and progression, which suggests that PRAS40 or phospho-PRAS40 could become a novel biomarker and therapeutic target in tumor.