Comment in:
Survival of cancer cells is maintained by EGFR independent of its kinase activity.
Weihua Z, Tsan R, Huang WC, Wu Q, Chiu CH, Fidler IJ, Hung MC.
Department of Cancer Biology, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Expression of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), a receptor tyrosine kinase associated with cell proliferation and survival, is overactive in many tumors of epithelial origin. Blockade of the kinase activity of EGFR has been used for cancer therapy; however, by itself, it does not seem to reach maximum therapeutic efficacy. We report here that in human cancer cells, the function of kinase-independent EGFR is to prevent autophagic cell death by maintaining intracellular glucose level through interaction and stabilization of the sodium/glucose cotransporter 1 (SGLT1).
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PMID: 18455122 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]PMCID: PMC2413063