Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 18, 2026

Microarray-based Identification of Individual HERV Loci Expression: Application to Biomarker Discovery in Prostate Cancer
13:19

Microarray-based Identification of Individual HERV Loci Expression: Application to Biomarker Discovery in Prostate Cancer

Published on: November 2, 2013

The onco-embryonic antigen ROR1 is expressed by a variety of human cancers

Suping Zhang1, Liguang Chen, Jessica Wang-Rodriguez

  • 1Moores UCSD Cancer Center, University of California-San Diego, 3855 Health Sciences Dr. #0820, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.

The American Journal of Pathology
|October 9, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Many human cancers express ROR1, an orphan-receptor tyrosine kinase. This study found ROR1 promotes tumor cell growth by enhancing phosphorylated AKT and CREB levels, suggesting ROR1 as a potential cancer therapy target.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Biochemistry

Background:

  • ROR1 is an orphan-receptor tyrosine kinase-like surface antigen.
  • ROR1 is expressed during embryogenesis and in certain malignancies, but not in most adult tissues.
  • ROR1 expression is observed in various cancer cell lines.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate ROR1 expression in diverse human cancers.
  • To determine the functional role of ROR1 in cancer cell growth and signaling pathways.
  • To evaluate ROR1 as a potential therapeutic target for cancer.

Main Methods:

  • ROR1 expression analysis in human cancer samples.
  • Measurement of phosphorylated AKT (p-AKT) and phosphorylated cAMP response element-binding factor (p-CREB) levels.
  • Functional studies involving ROR1 induction and silencing in cancer cell lines (MEC1).

Main Results:

  • High proportions of various human cancers, especially high-grade ones, express ROR1.
  • ROR1-expressing cancers showed higher levels of p-AKT and p-CREB compared to ROR1-negative cancers.
  • Induced ROR1 expression enhanced p-AKT and p-CREB, promoting cancer cell growth.
  • ROR1 silencing reduced p-AKT and p-CREB levels, impairing tumor cell growth.

Conclusions:

  • ROR1 is expressed in a wide range of human cancers and is associated with high-grade histology.
  • ROR1 plays a functional role in promoting tumor cell proliferation, potentially through the AKT and CREB signaling pathways.
  • ROR1 represents a promising therapeutic target for various human cancers.

More Related Videos

Reconstruct Human Retinoblastoma In Vitro06:52

Reconstruct Human Retinoblastoma In Vitro

Published on: October 11, 2022

Related Concept Videos

Rous Sarcoma Virus (RSV) and Cancer01:03

Rous Sarcoma Virus (RSV) and Cancer

Rous Sarcoma virus or RSV was discovered by F. Peyton Rous in the year 1911 as a filterable transmissible agent that could cause tumors in chickens. He won a Nobel Prize for this discovery in 1966. His experiments clearly demonstrated that some cancers could be caused by infectious agents and led to the discovery of many more cancer-causing viruses in animals as well as humans.
RSV is a retrovirus that contains two copies of a plus-strand  RNA genome. Its genome consists of four main open...
Rous Sarcoma Virus (RSV) and Cancer01:03

Rous Sarcoma Virus (RSV) and Cancer

Rous Sarcoma virus or RSV was discovered by F. Peyton Rous in the year 1911 as a filterable transmissible agent that could cause tumors in chickens. He won a Nobel Prize for this discovery in 1966. His experiments clearly demonstrated that some cancers could be caused by infectious agents and led to the discovery of many more cancer-causing viruses in animals as well as humans.
RSV is a retrovirus that contains two copies of a plus-strand  RNA genome. Its genome consists of four main open...
The Retinoblastoma Gene01:20

The Retinoblastoma Gene

Tumor suppressor genes are normal genes that can slow down cell division, repair DNA mistakes, or program the cells for apoptosis in case of irreparable damage. Hence, they play an essential role in preventing the proliferation of damaged cells.
The first-ever tumor suppressor gene called Rb was identified in retinoblastoma - a rare eye tumor in children. In inherited forms of the disease, a child inherits one defective copy of the Rb gene, which predisposes them to retinoblastoma. However,...
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression03:03

mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression

The mammalian target of rapamycin or mTOR protein was discovered in 1994 due to its direct interaction with rapamycin. The protein gets its name from a yeast homolog called TOR. The mTOR protein complex in mammalian cells plays a major role in balancing anabolic processes such as the synthesis of proteins, lipids, and nucleotides and catabolic processes, such as autophagy in response to environmental cues, such as availability of nutrients and growth factors.
The mTOR pathway or the...
Cancer-Critical Genes I: Proto-oncogenes01:33

Cancer-Critical Genes I: Proto-oncogenes

Genes usually encode proteins necessary for the proper functioning of a healthy cell. Mutations can often cause changes to the gene expression pattern, thereby altering the phenotype.
When the function of certain critical genes, especially those involved in cell cycle regulation and cell growth signaling cascades, gets disrupted, it upsets the cell cycle progression. Such cells with unchecked cell cycles start proliferating uncontrollably and eventually develop into tumors.
Such genes that act...
Cancer-Critical Genes I: Proto-oncogenes01:33

Cancer-Critical Genes I: Proto-oncogenes

Genes usually encode proteins necessary for the proper functioning of a healthy cell. Mutations can often cause changes to the gene expression pattern, thereby altering the phenotype.
When the function of certain critical genes, especially those involved in cell cycle regulation and cell growth signaling cascades, gets disrupted, it upsets the cell cycle progression. Such cells with unchecked cell cycles start proliferating uncontrollably and eventually develop into tumors.
Such genes that act...