Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 5, 2026

Mimicking the Function of Signaling Proteins: Toward Artificial Signal Transduction Therapy
Published on: September 29, 2016
The dynamic control of signal transduction networks in cancer cells
Walter Kolch1,2,3, Melinda Halasz1, Marina Granovskaya4
1Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin.
Abstract:
Cancer is often considered a genetic disease. However, much of the enormous plasticity of cancer cells to evolve different phenotypes, to adapt to challenging microenvironments and to withstand therapeutic assaults is encoded by the structure and spatiotemporal dynamics of signal transduction networks. In this Review, we discuss recent concepts concerning how the rich signalling dynamics afforded by these networks are regulated and how they impinge on cancer cell proliferation, survival, invasiveness and drug resistance. Understanding this dynamic circuitry by mathematical modelling could pave the way to new therapeutic approaches and personalized treatments.
Related Concept Videos
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
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...
Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells
Adaptive Mechanisms in Cancer Cells
Some of the advantages that cancer cells have on normal cells include - enhanced ability to divide without terminally differentiating, induce new blood vessel formation,...
Amplifying Signals via Enzymatic Cascade

