Mutations in the receptor tyrosine kinase c-KIT (KIT) are frequent oncogenic alterations in melanoma and are predominantly detected in tumors of acral, mucosal, and chronically sun-damaged skin. Research indicates that melanocytes with aberrant KIT signaling can be found in the distant periphery of the primary tumor; However, it is hitherto unknown whether KIT might confer a migratory advantage...

Expression of the tyrosine kinase receptor, c-KIT, progressively decreases during local tumor growth and invasion of human melanomas. We have previously shown that enforced c-KIT expression in highly metastatic cells inhibited tumor growth and metastasis in nude mice. Furthermore, the ligand for c-KIT, SCF, induces apoptosis in human melanoma cells expressing c-KIT under both in vitro and in vi...

BACKGROUND Cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) have been proven suitable for stem cell therapy after myocardial infarction, especially c-kit(+)CPCs. CPCs marker c-kit and its ligand, the stem cell factor (SCF), are linked as c-kit/SCF axis, which is associated with the functions of proliferation and differentiation. In our previous study, we found that stromal cell-derived factor-1α (SDF-1α) could ...

BACKGROUND Adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs) improve the regenerative ability and retention of fat grafts for breast reconstruction in cancer patients following mastectomy. However, ASCs have also been shown to promote breast cancer cell growth and metastasis. For the safety of ASC application, we aimed to identify specific markers for the subpopulation of ASCs that enhance t...

The c-kit gene is expressed in hematopoietic stem cells and lineage progenitor cells but is downregulated during cell development in most lineages, except for mast cells. In mast cells, high expression of c-kit is maintained during development, and c-Kit signaling is essential for mast cell development. To analyze the mechanisms by which c-kit gene expression are regulated in mast cells, we exa...

Gain-of-function mutations in Kit receptor tyrosine kinase result in the development of a variety of cancers, such as mast cell tumours, gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs), acute myeloid leukemia, and melanomas. The drug imatinib, a selective inhibitor of Kit, is used for treatment of mutant Kit-positive cancers. However, mutations in the Kit kinase domain, which are frequently found in n...

Purpose: Abnormal signaling through receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) moieties is important in tumorigenesis and drug targeting of colorectal cancers. Wild-type KIT (WT-KIT), a RTK that is activated upon bindingwith stemcell factor (SCF), is highly expressed in some colon cancers; however, little is knownabout the functional role of SCF-dependent KIT activation in colon cancer pathogenesis.We aime...

background: acute myeloid leukaemia (aml) is a cancer of blood-forming cells in bone marrow. c-kit gene is a receptor tyrosine kinase class iii (rtk) that is expressed by early hematopoietic progenitor cells and plays an important role in hematopoietic stem cell proliferation, differentiation and survival. it is known that c-kit is a proto-oncogene and the activating c-kit mutations are likely ...

The c-kit protooncogene encodes a receptor tyrosine kinase that is known to play a critical role in hemopoiesis and is essential for mast cell growth, differentiation, and cytokine production. Studies have shown that the Th2 cytokine IL-4 can down-regulate Kit expression on human and murine mast cells, but the mechanism of this down-regulation has remained unresolved. Using mouse bone marrow-de...

AIMS To characterise KIT-negative gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs) clinically, pathologically, immunohistochemically and genetically, and to establish the usefulness of protein kinase C theta (PKC) as a diagnostic marker in KIT-negative GIST. METHODS 252 consecutive cases of GIST were evaluated for clinicopathological characteristics and immunostained for various antibodies. Mutationa...