Question

Growth Factor Signaling oncogene search.

Perform an internet image search for "VEGFR signaling," "IGFR signaling," or "PDGFR signaling" and look for a diagram that shows a signal transduction pathway.

Copy both the image and the source information into a Word doc, and answer the following questions:

1)    Do your best to categorize the molecules shown into the following categories: Ligand, receptor, intracellular signal transducers, kinase cascade members, or effector proteins. If you aren't sure whether a protein should be a signal transducer or a kinase, look it up specifically or investigate captions on the source pages. If your diagram includes many proteins, give 1-2 examples per group as best you can.

2)    Based on the diagram, make a prediction about two possible oncogenic members of the pathway, and speculate what kinds of mutations could lead to oncogenic activity. (Too much signaling, always "on," etc.)

3)    Go to http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/ and perform a search using the names of one of your potential oncogenes plus cancer. For example, I could search for "SIAH cancer" or "SIAH oncogene." Is your protein under investigation in cancer settings?

Answer 1

	VEGFR Signalling	IGFR Signalling
Ligand	vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)	Insulin growth factor 1(IGF-1)
Receptor	vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)	Insulin growth factor receptor(IGFR)
Intracellular signal transducers	TSAd, PLC	IRS, SOS, Grb2
Kinase cascade members	c-kinase,MAPkinase	RAF, MEk, ERK
Effector Proteins	4-EBP1, HIF 1	Akt, mTOR, FOXO, Bad, Bax

1. Image on researchgate(simplified representation of oncogenic signaling cascades of pancreatic cancer)

2. Oncogenic members include : PI3/Akt pathway of IGF prevents cell death, VEGFR expression facilities the formation of blood vessels, thus promoting tumourigenesis.

3. Yes, these proteins are potent targets for development of cancer therapeutics.