Role of raf isoforms in signal transduction pathways relevant to leukemia cell proliferation

The invited commentary is addressed to the paper of Shelton et al published in this issue of Cell Cycle. The intracellular pathways that control cell growth constitute a complex nexus of signaling interactions that serve to regulate cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. Dysregulation of these processes leads to the loss of control of cell growth that is characteristic of malignancy. Understanding cell signaling is a major challenge for modern biological research. One way to begin to unravel the intricate web of signaling pathways is to investigate the effects of mutant forms of key component proteins. One such protein is the serine/threonine-specific protein kinase, Raf.