Role of Protein Kinase D2 (PKD2) in Lymphangiogenesis

Introduction: Protein kinase D2 is a calcium/calmodulin kinase reported to play a critical role in motility, migration and invasion of cancer cells. We previously reported PKD2 to be highly expressed and activated by hypoxia in epithelial tumors including pancreatic, colorectal and gastric cancers, identifying this kinase as a new component of hypoxia signaling. Depletion of PKD2 in tumor cells prevented tumor angiogenesis and subsequent tumor cell proliferation in vivo. In endothelial cells PKDs are activated upon VEGF stimulation by involving tyrosine phosphorylation sites on the VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR2). Sinc…