ReviewMolecular cancer therapeutics2014
Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase: key kinase for stem cell phenotype in glioma and other cancers.
Review in Molecular cancer therapeutics, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
44 citing papers in PubMed, 71 citations in OpenAlex.
- Maternal Embryonic Leucine Zipper Kinase (Biology · 2026Review
- Targeting MELK in tumor cells and tumor microenvironment: from function and mechanism to therapeutic application.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2025Review
- Maternal Embryonic Leucine Zipper Kinase (MELK) as a Promising Therapeutic Target in Triple Negative Breast Cancer.Anti-cancer agents in medicinal chemistry · 2025Review
- Roles of DEPDC1 in various types of cancer (Review).Oncology letters · 2024Review
- Upregulation of MELK promotes chemoresistance and induces macrophage M2 polarization via CSF-1/JAK2/STAT3 pathway in gastric cancer.Cancer cell international · 2024Article
- AI identifies potent inducers of breast cancer stem cell differentiation based on adversarial learning from gene expression data.Briefings in bioinformatics · 2024Article
- Spatiotemporal regulation of MELK during mitosis.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2024Article
- MELK promotes HCC carcinogenesis through modulating cuproptosis-related gene DLAT-mediated mitochondrial function.Cell death & disease · 2023Article
- Forkhead box transcription factors (FOXOs and FOXM1) in glioma: from molecular mechanisms to therapeutics.Cancer cell international · 2023Review
- Identification and validation of novel prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for non-small cell lung cancer.Frontiers in genetics · 2023Article
- MUC21 induces the viability and migration of glioblastoma via the STAT3/AKT pathway.Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2022Article
- Comprehensive Bioinformatics Analysis of mRNA Expression Profiles and Identification of a miRNA-mRNA Network Associated with the Pathogenesis of Low-Grade Gliomas.Cancer management and research · 2021Article
- Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase: A novel biomarker and a potential therapeutic target in lung adenocarcinoma.Oncology letters · 2020Article
- Suppression of long non-coding RNA PCAT19 inhibits glioma cell proliferation and invasion, and increases cell apoptosis through regulation of MELK targeted by miR-142-5p.Genes & genomics · 2020Article
- Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase serves as a poor prognosis marker and therapeutic target in osteosarcoma.Oncology reports · 2020Observational
- MEK/MELK inhibition and blood-brain barrier deficiencies in atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors.Neuro-oncology · 2020Article
- MELK Inhibition Effectively Suppresses Growth of Glioblastoma and Cancer Stem-Like Cells by Blocking AKT and FOXM1 Pathways.Frontiers in oncology · 2020Article
- MELK promotes Endometrial carcinoma progression via activating mTOR signaling pathway.EBioMedicine · 2020Article
- Mutant P53 induces MELK expression by release of wild-type P53-dependent suppression of FOXM1.NPJ breast cancer · 2020Article
- Systematic Meta-Analysis Identifies Co-Expressed Kinases and GPCRs in Ovarian Cancer Tissues Revealing a Potential for Targeted Kinase Inhibitor Delivery.Pharmaceutics · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) is a member of the snf1/AMPK family of protein serine/threonine kinases that has recently gained significant attention in the stem cell and cancer biology field. Recent studies suggest that activation of this kinase is tightly associated with extended survival and accelerated proliferation of cancer stem cells (CSC) in various organs. Overexpression of MELK has been noted in various cancers, including colon, breast, ovaries, pancreas, prostate, and brain, making the inhibition of MELK an attractive therapeutic strategy for a variety of cancers. In the experimental cancer models, depletion of MELK by RNA interference or small molecule inhibitors induces apoptotic cell death of CSCs derived from glioblastoma multiforme and breast cancer, both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanism of action of MELK includes, yet may not be restricted to, direct binding and activation of the oncogenic transcription factors c-JUN and FOXM1 in cancer cells but not in the normal counterparts. Following these preclinical studies, the phase I clinical trial for advanced cancers with OTSSP167 started in 2013, as the first-in-class MELK inhibitor. This review summarizes the current molecular understanding of MELK and the recent preclinical studies about MELK as a cancer therapeutic target.
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Registered trials
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.