Oncogenic cell cycle start control

The ability to proliferate in the absence of anchorage is a fundamental att ribute of cancer cells, yet how it is acquired is one central problem in ca ncer biology. By utilizing growth factor-transformable NRK cells and its in sensitive mutants, we recently found that oncogenic stimulation invokes Cdk 6 to participate in a critical step of the cell cycle start. but not via th e regulation of its catalytic activity and that Cdk6 participation closely correlates with the anchorage-independent growth ability. Since many hemato poietic cells employ predominantly Cdk6 for the cell cycle start and perfor m anchorage-independent growth by nature, this finding raises the possibili ty that the mechanism by which oncogenic stimulation invokes anchorage-inde pendent growth of NRK cells is similar to the one used for hematopoietic ce ll proliferation. We discuss this novel mechanism and its implication. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.