Endocrine Abstracts

Activation of the Ras/ERK pathway and stimulation of proliferation by integrins in thyroid cells requires CaMKII activation. To date, whether this role of CaMKII is a general mechanism or is restricted to integrin signalling is unknown. As oncogenic activation of the Ras/ERK pathway by mutated Ras, RET/PTC and Trk is frequent in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), we investigated the expression and activation level of CaMKII in PTC primary culture and in stable cell lines.<...