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Comment
. 2010 Jun 15;17(6):529-31.
doi: 10.1016/j.ccr.2010.05.017.

Glycogen synthase kinase-3 and leukemia: restoring the balance

Noah W Birch  1 , Nancy J Zeleznik-Le
Affiliations
Comment

Glycogen synthase kinase-3 and leukemia: restoring the balance

Noah W Birch et al. Cancer Cell. .

Abstract

The role of GSK-3 in oncogenesis is paradoxical, acting as a tumor suppressor in some cancers and potentiating growth in others. In this issue of Cancer Cell, Wang et al. provide some mechanistic insight into GSK-3 activity's role in potentiating leukemias which are dependent on homeobox (HOX) gene misregulation.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. The seemingly contrary roles of GSK-3 help to maintain a fine balance between normal cell cycle progression and tumorigenesis
Constitutively active GSK-3 acts to destabilize β-catenin through phosphorylation, thus, functioning as a tumor suppressor to limit proliferation (unshaded region). In contrast, GSK-3 promotes expansion of leukemic cells transformed by HOX overexpression through phosphorylation of CREB and subsequent formation of a transcriptional co-activator complex (shaded region).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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