Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23921085›Full record

ArticleScience signaling2013

The receptor AXL diversifies EGFR signaling and limits the response to EGFR-targeted inhibitors in triple-negative breast cancer cells.

Aaron S Meyer, Miles A Miller, Frank B Gertler, Douglas A Lauffenburger

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Science signaling, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 182 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
182citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.8field-weighted citation impact, top 10% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

182 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 39 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. AXL is associated with STAT3 activation in breast cancer.Molecular and clinical oncology · 2026
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. [Role of Receptor Tyrosine Kinase AXL in Cancer Targeted Therapy Drug Resistance].Zhongguo fei ai za zhi = Chinese journal of lung cancer · 2026
    Review
  10. Review
  11. Review
  12. Review
  13. Review
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. AXL signaling in cancer: from molecular insights to targeted therapies.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2025
    Review
  17. Article
  18. Review
  19. Review
  20. Review

122 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Aaron S MeyerDepartment of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Miles A Miller
Frank B Gertler
Douglas A Lauffenburger
Massachusetts Institute of Technology · US

Funding

VIRUS PRODUCTION COREP30CA014051 · NCI · MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · PI MATTHEW G. VANDER HEIDEN · 1985 to 2026
$93.9M
Tumor Cell Networks CenterU54CA112967 · NCI · MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · PI LAUFFENBURGER, DOUGLAS A · 2004 to 2015
$26.2M
Engineered Antibody EGFR Antagonist Cancer TherapeuticsR01CA096504 · NCI · MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · PI WITTRUP, KARL DANE · 2002 to 2017
$9.7M
NCI NIH HHS P30 CA014051NCI NIH HHS R01 CA096504NCI NIH HHS U54 CA112967
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The relationship between drug resistance, changes in signaling, and emergence of an invasive phenotype is well appreciated, but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Using machine learning analysis applied to the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia database, we identified expression of AXL, the gene that encodes the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-associated receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) AXL, as exceptionally predictive of lack of response to ErbB family receptor-targeted inhibitors. Activation of EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) transactivated AXL, and this ligand-independent AXL activity diversified EGFR-induced signaling into additional downstream pathways beyond those triggered by EGFR alone. AXL-mediated signaling diversification was required for EGF (epidermal growth factor)-elicited motility responses in AXL-positive TNBC (triple-negative breast cancer) cells. Using cross-linking coimmunoprecipitation assays, we determined that AXL associated with EGFR, other ErbB receptor family members, MET (hepatocyte growth factor receptor), and PDGFR (platelet-derived growth factor receptor) but not IGF1R (insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor) or INSR (insulin receptor). From these AXL interaction data, we predicted AXL-mediated signaling synergy for additional RTKs and validated these predictions in cells. This alternative mechanism of receptor activation limits the use of ligand-blocking therapies and indicates against therapy withdrawal after acquired resistance. Further, subadditive interaction between EGFR- and AXL-targeted inhibitors across all AXL-positive TNBC cell lines may indicate that increased abundance of EGFR is principally a means to transactivation-mediated signaling.

Indexed as

Signal TransductionAntigens, CDAxl Receptor Tyrosine KinaseBreast NeoplasmsCell Line, TumorCell MovementErbB ReceptorsFemaleGene Expression Regulation, NeoplasticHumansProto-Oncogene ProteinsProto-Oncogene Proteins c-metReceptor, IGF Type 1Receptor, InsulinReceptor Protein-Tyrosine KinasesReceptors, Platelet-Derived Growth FactorAntigens, CDAXL protein, humanAxl Receptor Tyrosine KinaseEGFR protein, humanErbB ReceptorsINSR protein, humanMET protein, humanProto-Oncogene ProteinsProto-Oncogene Proteins c-metReceptor, IGF Type 1Receptor, InsulinReceptor Protein-Tyrosine KinasesReceptors, Platelet-Derived Growth Factor

Identifiers

PMID23921085
PMCPMC3947921
OpenAlexW1576368899

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.