Mitotic kinase dynamics of the active form of AMPK (phospho- AMPKαThr172) in human cancer cells

Abstract

When interrogating the activation status of AMP-activated protein kinase-measured as AMPKαThr172 phosphorylation-in tissue sections of human carcinomas and in cultured human cancer cells, the spatiotemporal dynamics of AMPK activity during the G1/S-to-M-phase transition strikingly resembles that of well-characterized "chromosomal passenger" proteins such as Aurora B, INCENP or Histone H3. The mitotic kinase behavior of the active form of AMPK may represent a candidate molecular link through which energy status directly influences tumorigenesis. A definitive elucidation of phospho-AMPKαThr172 in coordinating the chromosomal and cytoskeletal events of mitosis might radically amend our current perception of other AMPK-related diseases such as obesity, cardiac hypertrophy or accelerated aging syndromes. ©2009 Landes Bioscience.