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Updated: Jul 30, 2025

Assessing Cellular Target Engagement by SHP2 PTPN11 Phosphatase Inhibitors
Published on: July 17, 2020
Essential Protein PHB2 and Its Regulatory Mechanisms in Cancer
Amanda Qi1, Lillie Lamont1, Evelyn Liu1
1Department of Pathology, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
Abstract:
Prohibitins (PHBs) are a highly conserved class of proteins and have an essential role in transcription, epigenetic regulation, nuclear signaling, mitochondrial structural integrity, cell division, and cellular membrane metabolism. Prohibitins form a heterodimeric complex, consisting of two proteins, prohibitin 1 (PHB1) and prohibitin 2 (PHB2). They have been discovered to have crucial roles in regulating cancer and other metabolic diseases, functioning both together and independently. As there have been many previously published reviews on PHB1, this review focuses on the lesser studied prohibitin, PHB2. The role of PHB2 in cancer is controversial. In most human cancers, overexpressed PHB2 enhances tumor progression, while in some cancers, it suppresses tumor progression. In this review, we focus on (1) the history, family, and structure of prohibitins, (2) the essential location-dependent functions of PHB2, (3) dysfunction in cancer, and (4) the promising modulators to target PHB2. At the end, we discuss future directions and the clinical significance of this common essential gene in cancer.
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