Questions and Answers

Running head: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Questions and Answers
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Answer: 1
a. Four of the signal transducers involved in the AKT pathway includes: PIP2
(Phosphatidylinositol 4,5 - bisphosphate), NF-kappaB (Nuclear Factor kappaB) and DAG
(diacyl glycerol) and insulin growth hormone transmitted through g-protein coupled receptor.
PIP2 is transformed into and Diacylglycerol (DAG) and PIP3 under the action of the protein
kinase3. PIP3 then leads to the promotion of AKT activation.
Second messenger: Cyclic-AMP (adenosine monophosphte), Cyclic-GMP (guanosine
monophosphate), Calcium and Inositol trsiphosphate.
b. PI3K/AKT network is negatively regulated by the action of the phosphatases. Phosphatase
leads to the dephosphorylation of the PIP3 leading to the production of PIP2. Transformation
of PIP3 to PIP2 leads to negative regualtion of AKT pathway.
The phosphatase that leads to the dephosphorylation of PIP3 is PTEN (Phosphatase and
tensin homolog). In human it is encoded by PTEN gene it is a proto-oncogene. It mainly acts
as a tumour suppressor gene within the human body.
c. AKT is alpha serine/threonine-protein kinase enzyme. AKT helps in the phosphorylation
and activation of mTOR.
D. BRCA1. BRCA1 is the hallmark of breast cancer.
(Mayer and Arteaga 2016)
Answer: 2
The BRAF V600E mutation is target for BRAF inhibitor drugs. The main drugs
include dabrafenib and vemurafenib are used as BRAF inhibitors. These drugs inhibit BRAF

2
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
protein having the faulty mutation from activating MAP2K1 pathway. Dabrafenib and
vemurafenib inhibits BRAf kinase from acting over mutated BRAF. This prevents
phosphorylation and activation of BRAF and thereby helping to prevent the activation of
MAP2K1 (Sun et al. 2016).
Wild type BRAF: valine at position 600
Mutated BRAF: valine is replaced by glutamine at position 600
(Mayer and Arteaga 2016)
Answer 3
The four important nutrients used by the cancer cell include protein, glucose, fatty
acids and oxygen.
The tumor imaging is mainly done by the targeting the protein molecules centering
the inflammation of the cancer cell. The process is known as PET CT scan (Positron
Emission Tomography : Computed Tomography). In this process, radiotracers molecules are
linked or labeled with radio-active material and injected within the body. This radioactive-
labeled molecule specifically targets the inflamed areas of the tumor by binding with the
proteins present in the tumor and thereby helping to visualize the structure and size of the
tumor (DeBerardinis and Chandel 2016).
Answer 4
Navitoclax is orally bioavailable small molecule. It is an inhibitor of Bcl-2 (B-cell
lukemia) family proteins. It is used for the treatment of lymphomas and other types of cancer
and has potential antineoplastic activity. Navitoclax binds selectively to the apoptosis
suppressor proteins (Bcl-2) leading to its inactivation) (Anderson, Huang and Roberts 2014).