2010/09/22

Critical role of LKB1-Akt pathway activation in the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma

Researchers from the Metabolomics unit at CICbioGUNE-CIBERehd have recently observed that the enzyme LKB1, which had been initially considered a tumor suppressor, performs the opposite function in hepatocarcinoma cells derived from liver tumors of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis etiology (NASH). The study, published in the July issue of Hepatology, demonstrates that LKB1 is necessary for the survival of a cell-line (SAM-Deficient cell line) isolated from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) of mice lacking methionine adenosyltransferase 1A (MAT1-KO mice).