Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 15, 2026

Studying RNA Interactors of Protein Kinase RNA-Activated during the Mammalian Cell Cycle
Published on: March 5, 2019
A role for PKR in hematologic malignancies
William L Blalock1, Alberto Bavelloni, Manuela Piazzi
1Department of Human Anatomical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
Abstract:
The double-stranded RNA-dependent kinase PKR has been described for many years as strictly a pro-apoptotic kinase. Recent data suggest that the main purpose of this kinase is damage control and repair following stress and, if all else fails, apoptosis. Aberrant activation of PKR has been reported in numerous neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. Although a subset of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia contain low levels of PKR expression and activity, elevated PKR activity and/or expression have been detected in a wide range of hematologic malignancies, from bone marrow failure disorders to acute leukemia. With the recent findings that cancers containing elevated PKR activity are highly sensitive to PKR inhibition, we explore the role of PKR in hematologic malignancies, signal transduction pathways affected by PKR, and how PKR may contribute to leukemic transformation.
Related Concept Videos
Role of Hematopoietic Growth Factors
Thrombopoietin (TPO), mainly released by the liver,...
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...
Interactions Between Signaling Pathways
Convergence and divergence, and cross-talk between signaling pathways
Two distinct signaling pathways can converge on a single functional unit, which may either be a single protein or a complex of proteins. The response is either functionally distinct or synergistic between the two pathways but different from the response...
Negative Regulator Molecules
PI3K/mTOR/AKT Signaling Pathway
Abnormal Proliferation
