%0 Journal Article
%T Involvement of Src in the Adaptation of Cancer Cells under Microenvironmental Stresses
%A A. K. M. Mahbub Hasan
%A Takashi Ijiri
%A Ken-ichi Sato
%J Journal of Signal Transduction
%D 2012
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2012/483796
%X Protein-tyrosine phosphorylation, which is catalyzed by protein-tyrosine kinase (PTK), plays a pivotal role in a variety of cellular functions related to health and disease. The discovery of the viral oncogene Src (v-Src) and its cellular nontransforming counterpart (c-Src), as the first example of PTK, has opened a window to study the relationship between protein-tyrosine phosphorylation and the biology and medicine of cancer. In this paper, we focus on the roles played by Src and other PTKs in cancer cell-specific behavior, that is, evasion of apoptosis or cell death under stressful extracellular and/or intracellular microenvironments (i.e., hypoxia, anoikis, hypoglycemia, and serum deprivation). 1. Introduction It is believed that the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates (ca. 460£¿B.C.¨Cca. 370£¿B.C.), the father of medicine, was the first to use the word ¡°cancer¡± in this context. Although phenomena reflecting the formation of malignant tumor had already been described much earlier, Hippocrates was the first to use the Greek word ¡°carcinos¡± (in English and Latin, ¡°cancer¡±), based on the word for crab, which he thought resembled the cut surface of a malignant tumor [1]. Long after this incident, the biology and medicine of cancer reached the age of modern science in the mid 18th century with findings and reports that some cases of cancer may be associated with the patient¡¯s lifestyle and/or job (e.g., nose, scrotum) [2, 3]. Currently, cancer is known as one of the most critical and fatal diseases in humans, especially in those living in areas with relatively high longevity. Thus, in general, cancer is recognized as having been relatively rare during the earlier average human lifetime. Nevertheless, overall, demands for understanding, preventing, and curing cancer are growing; therefore, the biology and medicine of cancer are of particular importance in science. Why and how is cancer rare? Why and how does cancer arise and develop? Why and how is cancer fatal? Many fundamental questions arise from the study of cancer. Against this background, an extensive number of studies have been conducted in recent decades using many approaches including animal models, bioinformatics, and cellular and molecular biology techniques. In 2000, Hanahan and Weinberg, a pioneering scientist in the cancer biology field, proposed that the development of most cancer cells is the result of a manifestation of six essential alterations in cell physiology that collectively dictate malignant growth: self-sufficiency in growth signals, insensitivity to growth-inhibitory signals,
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jst/2012/483796/