Revving the throttle on an oncogene: CDK8 takes the driver seat

摘要

The Wnt/β-catenin pathway plays an important role in the initiation in most, if not all, colon cancers. Prior work has provided important insights into the regulation of β-catenin stability in the cytoplasm; however, relatively little is known regarding the mechanism by which β-catenin activates gene transcription in the nucleus. Using genetic approaches, studies in human colon cancers and Drosophila have identified CDK8 as a colon cancer oncogene that regulates β-catenin transcriptional activity. These convergent observations provide new insights into the regulation of nuclear β-catenin activity and identify a novel therapeutic target for β-catenin-driven malignancies.