Gankyrin: At the crossroads of cancer diagnosis, disease prognosis, and development of efficient cancer therapeutics

Background

The pattern of Gankyrin expression is dynamic in response to various stimuli; it is known to be upregulated in several types of cancer. Therefore, Gankyrin expression may serve as a novel prognostic marker of clinical importance and also be considered as a potential therapeutic target for the development of drug candidates.

Summary

Gankyrin or PSMD10 is an established oncoprotein and their elevated expressions are reported in several types of cancer. Gankyrin is involved in various biological processes including the transformation of cells followed by carcinogenesis and metastasis. Abnormal expression of Gankyrin has been reported in a variety of cancers including liver, pancreatic, esophageal, cervical, lung, breast, and glioma. Notably, elevated expression of Gankyrin modulates the key signaling pathways such as JNK, PI3K/AKT, and mTOR, avidly involved in the regulation of cell cycle, apoptosis, and cell fate decisions, thus resulting in the process of tumorigenesis and metastasis. Contrastingly, downregulated expression of Gankyrin exerts anticancer effects. Evidently, a number of emerging reports revealed Gankyrin as a potential marker for the early detection of various cancers. Therefore, it is consistent with the notion that Gankyrin is a driver gene that serves not only to initiate the process of carcinogenesis, but also to progress into metastatic phenotype. All of the aforementioned properties of Gankyrin are providing an emerging need to explore it as an early diagnosis marker, prognostic marker, and a potential therapeutic target to develop putative drug candidates to treat various cancer types.