- Citation/Abstract
- Dissertation or Thesis
Foxo3 Regulation of Stem Cell Markers OCT4 and SOX2 in PTEN-null Glioblastomas
Abstract (summary)
The PI3K pathway controls many cellular processes such as cell growth, survival, metabolism, apoptosis, and differentiation. Canonically, PI3K activates AKT leading to subsequent nuclear exportation of FOXO transcription factors. Dysregulation of the PI3K pathway is a hallmark in many cancers and often is attributable to a null mutation in PTEN. PTEN is a phosphatase that reverses the reactions catalyzed by PI3K. Loss of PTEN leads to constitutive inactivation of tumor suppressor FOXO proteins. However, there is increasing evidence that FOXO may still reside and promote transcriptional activity in the nucleus despite high PI3K output within certain advance cancers and embryonic stem cells. We show that within a PTEN-null setting in glioblastomas, FOXO is still active and regulates OCT4 and SOX2 (master regulators of pluripotency) despite constitutive PI3K activation.