Expression of focal adhesion kinase gene and invasive cancer

The focal adhesion kinase (FAK) gene produces a tyrosine kinase that localises to contact points between cells and extracellular matrix. It is believed to be an important signal molecule in cell adhesion. We have isolated a human homologue of the FAK gene from primary sarcomas and looked for FAK mRNA in 49 human tissue samples, including paired normal and neoplastic samples. We found increased levels of FAK in 1 of 8 adenomatous tissues, in 17 of 20 invasive tumours, and in all 15 metastatic tumours. There was no detectable FAK mRNA in 6 normal tissue samples. These observations suggest that FAK overexpression may accompany changes in signal pathways involved in tumour cell invasion.

[1]  S. Hanks,et al.  Focal adhesion protein-tyrosine kinase phosphorylated in response to cell attachment to fibronectin. , 1992, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[2]  E. Rozengurt,et al.  Bombesin, vasopressin, and endothelin stimulation of tyrosine phosphorylation in Swiss 3T3 cells. Identification of a novel tyrosine kinase as a major substrate. , 1992, The Journal of biological chemistry.

[3]  J. Parsons,et al.  pp125FAK a structurally distinctive protein-tyrosine kinase associated with focal adhesions. , 1992, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[4]  G. Ballantyne,et al.  The adenoma to carcinoma sequence. , 1990, Surgery, gynecology & obstetrics.

[5]  D. Shalloway,et al.  Regulation of focal adhesion-associated protein tyrosine kinase by both cellular adhesion and oncogenic transformation , 1992, Nature.

[6]  L. Liotta,et al.  Cancer metastasis and angiogenesis: An imbalance of positive and negative regulation , 1991, Cell.

[7]  R L Juliano,et al.  Signal transduction by integrins: increased protein tyrosine phosphorylation caused by clustering of beta 1 integrins. , 1991, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[8]  G. Lemke,et al.  An extended family of protein-tyrosine kinase genes differentially expressed in the vertebrate nervous system , 1991, Neuron.

[9]  E. Rozengurt,et al.  Focal adhesion kinase (p125FAK): A point of convergence in the action of neuropeptides, integrins, and oncogenes , 1992, Cell.