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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Feb 1.
Published in final edited form as: Cancer Res. 2011 Jan 25;71(3):629–633. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-10-2488

Figure 1. Impact of PTEN regulatory cues in tumorigenesis.

Figure 1

Schematic representation of the tissue-specific cancer sensitivity to PTEN down-regulation and the regulatory factors that could lead to the reduction of PTEN levels. PTEN expression is regulated at multiple levels, genomic (mutation and deletions), transcriptional (transcription factors), post-transcriptional (miRNAs, competitive endogenous RNAs -ceRNAs- such as the PTEN pseudogene) and post-translational (drugs, E3-ligases, de-ubiquitinating enzymes or DUBs). In turn, the reduction of PTEN levels has gradual and tissue-specific impact on cancer initiation in the mouse, with the mammary tissue being among the most sensitive tissues to PTEN level reduction. This data suggests that, in humans, subtle reduction of PTEN levels may lead to cancer susceptibility, cooperate with other oncogenic events in cancer progression or impact on the response to therapy.