Too Much Cleavage of Cyclin E Promotes Breast Tumorigenesis
Figure 1
Low molecular weight cyclin E promotes tumorigenesis.
In normal cells, cyclin E/CDK2 is tightly regulated and triggers the onset of S phase. In tumors, cyclin E undergoes proteolytic processing generating low molecular weight species that exhibit increased kinase activity and resistance to inhibition by cyclin kinase inhibitors p21/p27. The expression of LMW-E promotes aberrant acinar morphogenesis, centrosome amplification, and tumors associated with activation of the bRaf/ERK/mTOR pathway. LMW-E, low molecular weight cyclin E.