Signaling by the metabolic regulator and tumor supressor kinase LKB1
One of the rare kinases acting normally to restrict tumor growth is the LKB1serine/threonine kinase critical for activation of at least 14 related kinases involved in metabolism and polarity regulation. We are interested in how LKB1 mediates its tumor suppressing function, and recently identified that LKB1 signaling in mesenchymal cells is required for suppression of epithelial hyperproliferation in a mouse polyposis model and likely also in the human Peutz-Jeghers syndrome. We are currently extending investigations of tumor suppression mechanisms of the LKB1 tumor suppressor kinase from hereditary polyposis to sporadic cancer (lung, uterine, cervix). For this a combination of tissue- and cell type specific targeting approaches in vivo (conditional mouse models) and in vitro (2D and 3D RNAi & conditional deletions) of LKB1 and LKB1 substrate mutations will be used with a specific interest in the Nuak2 and AMPK kinases and cytoskeletal regulation.