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Ana Carolina Da Silva

Bio: Ana Carolina Da Silva is an academic researcher from Columbia University. The author has contributed to research in topics: AKT1 & Glucocorticoid receptor. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 188 citations.

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TL;DR: It is demonstrated that loss of PTEN and consequent AKT1 activation can effectively block glucocorticoid-induced apoptosis and induce resistance to glucoc Corticoid therapy, and pharmacologic inhibition of AKT with MK2206 effectively reverses glucocORTicoid resistance.

223 citations


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TL;DR: A fraction of tumors is identified with aberrant activity of druggable oncoproteins despite a lack of mutations, and vice versa, and in vitro assays confirmed that VIPER-inferred protein activity outperformed mutational analysis in predicting sensitivity to targeted inhibitors.
Abstract: Identifying the multiple dysregulated oncoproteins that contribute to tumorigenesis in a given patient is crucial for developing personalized treatment plans. However, accurate inference of aberrant protein activity in biological samples is still challenging as genetic alterations are only partially predictive and direct measurements of protein activity are generally not feasible. To address this problem we introduce and experimentally validate a new algorithm, virtual inference of protein activity by enriched regulon analysis (VIPER), for accurate assessment of protein activity from gene expression data. We used VIPER to evaluate the functional relevance of genetic alterations in regulatory proteins across all samples in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). In addition to accurately infer aberrant protein activity induced by established mutations, we also identified a fraction of tumors with aberrant activity of druggable oncoproteins despite a lack of mutations, and vice versa. In vitro assays confirmed that VIPER-inferred protein activity outperformed mutational analysis in predicting sensitivity to targeted inhibitors.

576 citations

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TL;DR: The varied roles of Notch in cancer are discussed, focusing on cell autonomous activities that may be either oncogenic or tumor suppressive.
Abstract: Notch receptors influence cellular behavior by participating in a seemingly simple signaling pathway, but outcomes produced by Notch signaling are remarkably varied depending on signal dose and cell context. Here, after briefly reviewing new insights into physiologic mechanisms of Notch signaling in healthy tissues and defects in Notch signaling that contribute to congenital disorders and viral infection, we discuss the varied roles of Notch in cancer, focusing on cell autonomous activities that may be either oncogenic or tumor suppressive.

456 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The current understanding of the biological role of PTEN, how PTEN expression and activity are regulated, and the consequences ofPTEN dysregulation in human malignant tumors are discussed.
Abstract: PTEN is the most important negative regulator of the PI3K signaling pathway. In addition to its canonical, PI3K inhibition-dependent functions, PTEN can also function as a tumor suppressor in a PI3K-independent manner. Indeed, the PTEN network regulates a broad spectrum of biological functions, modulating the flow of information from membrane-bound growth factor receptors to nuclear transcription factors, occurring in concert with other tumor suppressors and oncogenic signaling pathways. PTEN acts through its lipid and protein phosphatase activity and other non-enzymatic mechanisms. Studies conducted over the past 10 years have expanded our understanding of the biological role of PTEN, showing that in addition to its ability to regulate proliferation and cell survival, it also plays an intriguing role in regulating genomic stability, cell migration, stem cell self-renewal and tumor microenvironment. Changes in PTEN protein levels, location, and enzymatic activity through various molecular mechanisms can generate a continuum of functional PTEN levels in inherited syndromes, sporadic cancers and other diseases. PTEN activity can indeed, be modulated by mutations, epigenetic silencing, transcriptional repression, aberrant protein localization, and posttranslational modifications. This review will discuss our current understanding of the biological role of PTEN, how PTEN expression and activity are regulated, and the consequences of PTEN dysregulation in human malignant tumors.

351 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An overview of pathway and network analysis methods that group genes and illuminate the processes involved in tumor biology are provided and where they guide mechanistic and translational investigations are shown.
Abstract: Genomic information on tumors from 50 cancer types cataloged by the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) shows that only a few well-studied driver genes are frequently mutated, in contrast to many infrequently mutated genes that may also contribute to tumor biology. Hence there has been large interest in developing pathway and network analysis methods that group genes and illuminate the processes involved. We provide an overview of these analysis techniques and show where they guide mechanistic and translational investigations.

316 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The current understanding of the molecular mechanisms of T-ALL is examined and recent developments in the translation of these results to the clinic are examined.
Abstract: T cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL) is an aggressive haematological malignancy derived from early T cell progenitors. In recent years genomic and transcriptomic studies have uncovered major oncogenic and tumour suppressor pathways involved in T-ALL transformation and identified distinct biological groups associated with prognosis. An increased understanding of T-ALL biology has already translated into new prognostic biomarkers and improved animal models of leukaemia and has opened opportunities for the development of targeted therapies for the treatment of this disease. In this Review we examine our current understanding of the molecular mechanisms of T-ALL and recent developments in the translation of these results to the clinic.

304 citations