TY - JOUR
T1 - Defining pathological activities of ALK in neuroblastoma, a neural crest-derived cancer
AU - Wulf, Anna
AU - Marques Moreno, Marcela
AU - Paka, Chloé
AU - Rampasekova, Alexandra
AU - Liu, Karen
N1 - Funding Information:
This project receives funding the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/R015953/1) to KJL, from a King?s College London International PhD studentship (MMM) and from the European Union?s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 860635 (KJL, AMW, CAP). Results above reflect only the authors? view and that the Research European Agency is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021/11/1
Y1 - 2021/11/1
N2 - Neuroblastoma is a common extracranial solid tumour of childhood, responsible for 15% of cancer-related deaths in children. Prognoses vary from spontaneous remission to aggressive disease with extensive metastases, where treatment is challenging. Tumours are thought to arise from sympathoadrenal progenitor cells, which derive from an embryonic cell population called neural crest cells that give rise to diverse cell types, such as facial bone and cartilage, pigmented cells, and neurons. Tumours are found associated with mature derivatives of neural crest, such as the adrenal medulla or paraspinal ganglia. Sympathoadrenal progenitor cells express anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), which encodes a tyrosine kinase receptor that is the most frequently mutated gene in neuroblastoma. Activating mutations in the kinase domain are common in both sporadic and familial cases. The oncogenic role of ALK has been extensively studied, but little is known about its physiological role. Recent studies have implicated ALK in neural crest migration and sympathetic neurogenesis. However, very few downstream targets of ALK have been identified. Here, we describe pathological activation of ALK in the neural crest, which promotes proliferation and migration, while preventing differentiation, thus inducing the onset of neuroblastoma. Understanding the effects of ALK activity on neural crest cells will help find new targets for neuroblastoma treatment.
AB - Neuroblastoma is a common extracranial solid tumour of childhood, responsible for 15% of cancer-related deaths in children. Prognoses vary from spontaneous remission to aggressive disease with extensive metastases, where treatment is challenging. Tumours are thought to arise from sympathoadrenal progenitor cells, which derive from an embryonic cell population called neural crest cells that give rise to diverse cell types, such as facial bone and cartilage, pigmented cells, and neurons. Tumours are found associated with mature derivatives of neural crest, such as the adrenal medulla or paraspinal ganglia. Sympathoadrenal progenitor cells express anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), which encodes a tyrosine kinase receptor that is the most frequently mutated gene in neuroblastoma. Activating mutations in the kinase domain are common in both sporadic and familial cases. The oncogenic role of ALK has been extensively studied, but little is known about its physiological role. Recent studies have implicated ALK in neural crest migration and sympathetic neurogenesis. However, very few downstream targets of ALK have been identified. Here, we describe pathological activation of ALK in the neural crest, which promotes proliferation and migration, while preventing differentiation, thus inducing the onset of neuroblastoma. Understanding the effects of ALK activity on neural crest cells will help find new targets for neuroblastoma treatment.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85118146844&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ijms222111718
DO - 10.3390/ijms222111718
M3 - Article
SN - 1661-6596
VL - 22
JO - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
JF - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
IS - 21
M1 - 11718
ER -
