IN THE SPOTLIGHT Not Expecting the Unexpected: Diacylglycerol Kinase Alpha as a Cancer Target

Authors’ Affi liations: Department of Pathology, and Brain Tumor Center, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas Corresponding Authors: Kenneth D. Aldape, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, TX 77030. Phone: 713-792-0634; Fax: 713-745-4049; E-mail: kaldape@mdanderson. org; and Krishna P.L. Bhat, [email protected] doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-13-0244 ©2013 American Association for Cancer Research. IN THE SPOTLIGHT Not Expecting the Unexpected: Diacylglycerol Kinase Alpha as a Cancer Target Krishna P.L. Bhat and Kenneth Aldape Summary: In this issue of Cancer Discovery , Dominguez and colleagues identify diacylglycerol kinase alpha (DGKα), an enzyme that converts the membrane lipid diacylglycerol to phosphatidic acid, as a central node upstream of mTOR and other oncogenic pathways. Importantly, targeting DGKα causes apoptosis in cancer cells and tumor growth inhibition in mice with no overt toxicity, implicating DGKα as a novel cancer-specifi c target. Cancer Discov; 3(7); 726–7. ©2013 AACR.