Roles of THEM4 in the Akt pathway:a double-edged sword
- Author:
XIE WEN
1
,
2
,
3
;
LIU WEIDONG
;
WANG LEI
;
ZHU BIN
;
ZHAO CONG
;
LIAO ZILING
;
LI YIHAN
;
JIANG XINGJUN
;
LIU JIE
;
REN CAIPING
Author Information
- Keywords: Protein kinase B(Akt); Thioesterase superfamily member 4(THEM4); Tumor proliferation; Tumor metastasis
- From: Journal of Zhejiang University. Science. B 2024;25(7):541-556
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
- Abstract: The protein kinase B(Akt)pathway can regulate the growth,proliferation,and metabolism of tumor cells and stem cells through the activation of multiple downstream target genes,thus affecting the development and treatment of a range of diseases.Thioesterase superfamily member 4(THEM4),a member of the thioesterase superfamily,is one of the Akt kinase-binding proteins.Some studies on the mechanism of cancers and other diseases have shown that THEM4 binds to Akt to regulate its phosphorylation.Initially,THEM4 was considered an endogenous inhibitor of Akt,which can inhibit the phosphorylation of Akt in diseases such as lung cancer,pancreatic cancer,and liver cancer,but subsequently,THEM4 was shown to promote the proliferation of tumor cells by positively regulating Akt activity in breast cancer and nasopharyngeal carcinoma,which contradicts previous findings.Considering these two distinct views,this review summarizes the important roles of THEM4 in the Akt pathway,focusing on THEM4 as an Akt-binding protein and its regulatory relationship with Akt phosphorylation in various diseases,especially cancer.This work provides a better understanding of the roles of THEM4 combined with Akt in the treatment of diseases.
