Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 4, 2026

Assessing Cellular Target Engagement by SHP2 (PTPN11) Phosphatase Inhibitors
Published on: July 17, 2020
Dual-specificity MAP kinase phosphatases as targets of cancer treatment
Caroline Nunes-Xavier1, Carlos Romá-Mateo, Pablo Ríos
1Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe, 46013 Valencia, Spain.
Abstract:
The protein tyrosine phosphatase family (PTP) contains a group of dual-specificity phosphatases (DUSPs) that regulate the activivity of MAP kinases (MAPKs), which are key effectors in the control of cell growth and survival in physiological and pathological processes, including cancer. These phosphatases, named as MKP-DUSPs, include the MAPK phosphatases (MKPs) as well as a group of small-size atypical DUSPs structurally and functionally related to the MKPs. MKP-DUSPs, in most of the cases, are direct inactivators of MAPKs by dephosphorylation of both the Thr and the Tyr regulatory residues at the MAPKs catalytic loop. In some other cases, MKP-DUSPs regulate the activity of MAPKs indirectly, acting through upstream MAPK pathways components. The active involvement of MKP-DUSPs in oncogenesis or resistance to cancer therapies is now well documented, making the search and validation of MKP-DUSPs inhibitors a prominent area in clinical cancer research. Here, we review the current knowledge on the role of MKP-DUSPs in human cancer, the status of the preclinical development and validation of specific MKP-DUSP inhibitors, and the potential of MKP-DUSPs as targets for anti-cancer drugs.
Related Concept Videos
Targeted Cancer Therapies
There are several types of targeted therapies against specific...
Targeted Cancer Therapies
There are several types of targeted therapies against specific...
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...
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...
M-Cdk Drives Transition Into Mitosis
Cyclin-dependent kinases, or Cdks, work in concert with cyclins to control cell cycle transitions. M-Cdk, a complex of Cdk1 bound to M cyclin, is a well-known example of this coordinated control that drives the transition from the G2 to the M phase.
M cyclin...
