BREAST CANCER-ASSOCIATED GENE, MELK, AND ITS INTERACTIONS WITH BCL-G

摘要

The present invention relates to the discovery that MELK, a human maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase, is involved in cell growth of breast cancers through interaction with Bcl-G, a pro-apoptotic member of Bcl-2 family. In particular, the binding and phosphorylation of Bcl-G by MELK is described herein. As MELK has been shown to be overexpressed in breast, bladder and lung cancer, it appears that it may be a promising molecular target for the treatment and prevention of various types of cancer. Accordingly, objective screening methods for identifying therapeutic agents useful in the treatment of cancer, e.g., breast cancer, bladder cancer, and lung cancer, that use the interaction of MELK and Bcl-G as an index are described herein. The present invention also provides therapeutic agents or methods for treating cancer using the polypeptides. The polypeptides of the present invention are composed of an amino acid sequence which comprises polypeptide which comprises SEQ ID NO: 39. The polypeptides of the present invention can be introduced into cancer cells by modifying the polypeptides with transfection agents such as poly-arginine.