Involvement of Src in the Adaptation of Cancer Cells under Microenvironmental Stresses

Abstract

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).