The role of PIM1/PIM2 kinases in tumors of the male reproductive system

The PIM family of serine/threonine kinases has three highly conserved isoforms (PIM1, PIM2 and PIM3). PIM proteins are regulated through transcription and stability by JAK/STAT pathways and are overexpressed in hematological malignancies and solid tumors. The PIM kinases possess weak oncogenic abili...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Jiménez-García, Manuel Pedro, Lucena-Cacace, Antonio, Robles-Frías, María José, Narlik-Grassow, Maja, Blanco-Aparicio, Carmen, Carnero, Amancio
Format: article
Publication Date:2016
Country:España
Institution:Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)
Repository:Repisalud
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:repisalud.isciii.es:20.500.12105/25217
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12105/25217
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Animals
Biomarkers, Tumor
Humans
Male
Mice
Mice, Transgenic
Prostatic Neoplasms
Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases
Proto-Oncogene Proteins
Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-pim-1
Description
Summary:The PIM family of serine/threonine kinases has three highly conserved isoforms (PIM1, PIM2 and PIM3). PIM proteins are regulated through transcription and stability by JAK/STAT pathways and are overexpressed in hematological malignancies and solid tumors. The PIM kinases possess weak oncogenic abilities, but enhance other genes or chemical carcinogens to induce tumors. We generated conditional transgenic mice that overexpress PIM1 or PIM2 in male reproductive organs and analyzed their contribution to tumorigenesis. We found an increase in alterations of sexual organs and hyperplasia in the transgenic mice correlating with inflammation. We also found that PIM1/2 are overexpressed in a subset of human male germ cells and prostate tumors correlating with inflammatory features and stem cell markers. Our data suggest that PIM1/2 kinase overexpression is a common feature of male reproductive organs tumors, which provoke tissue alterations and a large inflammatory response that may act synergistically during the process of tumorigenesis. There is also a correlation with markers of cancer stem cells, which may contribute to the therapy resistance found in tumors overexpressing PIM kinases.