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The development of specialized organs is tightly linked to the regulation of cell growth, orientation, migration and adhesion during embryogenesis. In addition, the directed movements of cells and their orientation within the plane of a tissue, termed planar cell polarity (PCP), appear to be crucial for the proper formation of the body plan. In Drosophila embryogenesis, Discs large (dlg) plays a critical role in apical-basal cell polarity, cell adhesion and cell proliferation. Craniofacial defects in mice carrying an insertional mutation in Dlgh-1 suggest that Dlgh-1 is required for vertebrate development. To determine what roles Dlgh-1 plays in vertebrate development, we generated mice carrying a null mutation in Dlgh-1. We found that deletion of Dlgh-1 caused open eyelids, open neural tube, and misorientation of cochlear hair cell stereociliary bundles, indicative of defects in planar cell polarity (PCP). Deletion of Dlgh-1 also caused skeletal defects throughout the embryo. These findings identify novel roles for Dlgh-1 in vertebrates that differ from its well-characterized roles in invertebrates and suggest that the Dlgh-1 null mouse may be a useful animal model to study certain human congenital birth defects.

The AKT/PKB kinase is a key signaling component of one of the most frequently activated pathways in cancer and is a major target of cancer drug development. Most studies have focused on its activation by Receptor Tyrosine Kinase (RTK) mediated Phosphatidylinositol-3-OH kinase (PI3K) activation or loss of Phosphatase and Tensin homolog (PTEN). We have uncovered that growth factors binding to RTKs lead to activation of a non-receptor tyrosine kinase, Ack1 (also known as ACK or TNK2), which directly phosphorylates AKT at an evolutionarily conserved tyrosine 176 in the kinase domain. Tyr176-phosphorylated AKT localizes to the plasma membrane and promotes Thr308/Ser473-phosphorylation leading to AKT activation. Mice expressing activated Ack1 specifically in the prostate exhibit AKT Tyr176-phosphorylation and develop murine prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (mPINs). Further, expression levels of Tyr176-phosphorylated-AKT and Tyr284-phosphorylated-Ack1 were positively correlated with the severity of disease progression, and inversely correlated with the survival of breast cancer patients. Thus, RTK/Ack1/AKT pathway provides a novel target for drug discovery.