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Review
. 2021 Apr 30:9:601929.
doi: 10.3389/fcell.2021.601929. eCollection 2021.

Racially Disparate Expression of mTOR/ERK-1/2 Allied Proteins in Cancer

Sanjay Mishra  1 , Manish Charan  1 , Ajeet Kumar Verma  1 , Bhuvaneswari Ramaswamy  2 , Dinesh Kumar Ahirwar  1 , Ramesh K Ganju  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Racially Disparate Expression of mTOR/ERK-1/2 Allied Proteins in Cancer

Sanjay Mishra et al. Front Cell Dev Biol. .

Abstract

Recent studies revealed that ethnic differences in mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK-1/2) signaling pathways might be associated with the development and progression of different human malignancies. The African American (AA) population has an increased rate of cancer incidence and mortality compared to the Caucasian American (CA) population. Although the socioeconomic differences across different ethnic groups contribute to the disparity in developing different cancers, recent scientific evidence indicates the association of molecular and genetic variations in racial disparities of different human malignancies. The mTOR and ERK-1/2 signaling pathways are one of the well-known oncogenic signaling mechanisms that regulate diverse molecular and phenotypic aspects of normal as well as cancer cells in response to different external or internal stimuli. To date, very few studies have been carried out to explore the significance of racial disparity with abnormal mTOR and ERK-1/2 kinase signaling pathways, which may contribute to the development of aggressive human cancers. In this review, we discuss the differential regulation of mTOR and ERK-1/2 kinase signaling pathways across different ethnic groups, especially between AA and CA populations. Notably, we observed that key signaling proteins associated with mTOR and ERK-1/2 pathway including transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β), Akt, and VEGFR showed racially disparate expression in cancer patients. Overall, this review article encompasses the significance of racially disparate signaling molecules related to mTOR/ERK1/2 and their potential in developing tailor-made anti-cancer therapies.

Keywords: ERK; MAPK; cancer; mTOR; racial disparity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic diagram highlighting various functions of mTOR signaling.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic representation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK-1/2) pathway.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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