scribble mutants promote aPKC and JNK-dependent epithelial neoplasia independently of Crumbs

Background  

Metastatic neoplasias are characterized by excessive cell proliferation and disruptions to apico-basal cell polarity and tissue architecture. Understanding how alterations in cell polarity can impact upon tumour development is, therefore, a central issue in cancer biology. TheDrosophila genescribble (scrib) encodes a PDZ-domain scaffolding protein that regulates cell polarity and acts as a tumour suppressor in flies. Increasing evidence also implicates the loss of human Scrib in cancer. In this report, we investigate how loss of Scrib promotes epithelial tumourigenesis inDrosophila, both alone and in cooperation with oncogenic mutations.