Figure 3.

An overview of signaling cascades involved in PLK1-induced EMT. PLK1 activates the MAPK pathway by directly binding and phosphorylating CRAF. The activated MAPK pathway causes transcriptional upregulation of Fra1, which in turn triggers the accumulation of ZEB1/2, thus orchestrating the transcriptional network necessary for the EMT program. PLK1 also induces EMT through AKT or FoxM1-dependent pathways. Together, these signaling events contribute to EMT induction and associated events (such as invasion and therapeutic resistance) in tumor cells overexpressing PLK1.