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Towards Precision Oncology: The Role of Smoothened and Its Variants in Cancer

Nicheperovich, Alina; Townsend-Nicholson, Andrea; (2022) Towards Precision Oncology: The Role of Smoothened and Its Variants in Cancer. Journal of Personalized Medicine , 12 (10) , Article 1648. 10.3390/jpm12101648. Green open access

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Abstract

The G protein-coupled receptor Smoothened (Smo) is a central signal transducer of the Hedgehog (Hh) pathway which has been linked to diverse forms of tumours. Stimulated by advancements in structural and functional characterisation, the Smo receptor has been recognised as an important therapeutic target in Hh-driven cancers, and several Smo inhibitors have now been approved for cancer therapy. This receptor is also known to be an oncoprotein itself and its gain-of-function variants have been associated with skin, brain, and liver cancers. According to the COSMIC database, oncogenic mutations of Smo have been identified in various other tumours, although their oncogenic effect remains unknown in these tissues. Drug resistance is a common challenge in cancer therapies targeting Smo, and data analysis shows that healthy individuals also harbour resistance mutations. Based on the importance of Smo in cancer progression and the high incidence of resistance towards Smo inhibitors, this review suggests that detection of Smo variants through tumour profiling could lead to increased precision and improved outcomes of anti-cancer treatments.

Type: Article
Title: Towards Precision Oncology: The Role of Smoothened and Its Variants in Cancer
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.3390/jpm12101648
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm12101648
Language: English
Additional information: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords: Smoothened; cancer; precision medicine; therapy
UCL classification: UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Structural and Molecular Biology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10157285
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