Mammalian target of rapamycin pathway in squamous cell carcinomas of the dog skin

SANZ RESSEL BL; MASSONE AR; BARBEITO CG

The Veterinary Journal

ELSEVIER SCI LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2019 vol. 245 p. 41 - 48

1090-0233

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) represents one of the most common malignant neoplasms in dog skin. Research aimed at clarifying how the deregulated activity of signaling pathways contributes to CSCC progression can help to identify molecular suitable targets for the development of novel therapies. Thereby, we describe here the first tissue microarray constructed from canine specimens of normal epidermis, preneoplastic epidermis, and CSCC to elucidate the expression pattern and activation status of different molecules involved in the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-Akt-mammalian target of rapamycin (PI3K-Akt-mTOR)signalingpathway. We show here by immunohistochemical evaluation of phosphorylated forms of PI3K-Akt-mTOR molecules that the aberrant activity of these proteins is a frequent event in most preneoplastic epidermis lesions and CSCC in dogs.These findings provide important evidence that the persistent activation of the PI3K-Akt-mTOR signaling pathway represents one of the key events during CSCC progression in canine patients, pointing to PI3K-Akt-mTOR pathway as a potential therapeutic target.