# Signalling pathway

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/signalling-pathway/  
OnCo record `signalling-pathway` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

A chain of proteins that passes a message from the cell surface to the nucleus, each one switching on the next like a relay race. Cancer drugs try to break a link in the chain.

## Summary

A typical pathway runs receptor, adaptor, small switch protein (RAS), kinase cascade (RAF, MEK, ERK), transcription factor, gene; the PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway runs in parallel and controls growth and survival. Pathways branch, feed back on themselves, and cross-talk, so blocking one link often leads the cell to reroute the signal, which is a major cause of drug resistance and the rationale for combining drugs that hit two points. Each pathway page on this site shows the chain, the mutations that jam it on, and the drugs that hit each node.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-09
- Also known as: signalling pathways; signaling pathway; signaling pathways; pathway; pathways; signalling cascade; signaling cascade; signal transduction; cell signalling; cell signaling; intracellular signalling; intracellular signaling

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_transduction
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_transduction

## Connected records

- terms: [Downstream and upstream](https://onco.cc/terms/downstream/), [Drug resistance (primary and acquired)](https://onco.cc/terms/resistance/), [Growth factor](https://onco.cc/terms/growth-factor/), [Growth signal](https://onco.cc/terms/growth-signal/), [Kinase](https://onco.cc/terms/kinase/), [Phosphorylation](https://onco.cc/terms/phosphorylation/), [Receptor](https://onco.cc/terms/receptor/)
- pathways: [Androgen receptor signalling](https://onco.cc/pathways/ar-signaling/), [Oestrogen receptor signalling](https://onco.cc/pathways/er-signaling/), [PI3K / AKT / mTOR](https://onco.cc/pathways/pi3k-akt-mtor/), [RAS / RAF / MEK / ERK (MAPK)](https://onco.cc/pathways/ras-mapk/), [Wnt / β-catenin](https://onco.cc/pathways/wnt/)
- people: [Dario C. Altieri](https://onco.cc/people/dario-altieri/), [Julio Saez-Rodriguez](https://onco.cc/people/julio-saez-rodriguez/)
- key papers: [Darnell, Kerr and Stark 1994: JAK-STAT pathways and transcriptional activation by interferons](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-darnell-jak-stat-science-1994/), [Lemmon and Schlessinger 2010: cell signalling by receptor tyrosine kinases](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-lemmon-schlessinger-rtk-signalling-cell-2010/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/signalling-pathway.json