Sustained Proliferation: Signaling Pathways and Cancer Genes

This lecture introduces the core hallmark capability of sustaining proliferation in cancer cells, focusing on growth factors, receptor tyrosine kinases, and signal transduction pathways. It covers the discovery of growth factors, autocrine signaling in cancer cells, and the role of viral oncogenes. The lecture explores different modes of growth factor signaling, the similarities between growth factor receptors and viral oncoproteins, and the therapeutic opportunities targeting receptor tyrosine kinases. It also delves into the mechanisms of RTK phosphorylation, the recruitment of partner proteins, and the activation of Ras. Additionally, it discusses genetic screening for RTK signal transduction components and the implications of oncogenic mutations in the Ras pathway.