Proto-oncogene serine/threonine-protein kinase Pim-1 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the PIM1 gene.[5][6][7]
Pim-1 is a proto-oncogene which encodes for the serine/threonine kinase of the same name. The pim-1 oncogene was first described in relation to murine T-cell lymphomas, as it was the locus most frequently activated by the Moloney murine leukemia virus.[8] Subsequently, the oncogene has been implicated in multiple human cancers, including prostate cancer, acute myeloid leukemia and other hematopoietic malignancies.[9] Primarily expressed in spleen, thymus, bone marrow, prostate, oral epithelial, hippocampus and fetal liver cells, Pim-1 has also been found to be highly expressed in cell cultures isolated from human tumors.[8] Pim-1 is mainly involved in cell cycle progression, apoptosis and transcriptional activation, as well as more general signal transduction pathways.[8] Pim-1's role in oncogenic signalling has led to it becoming a widely studied target in cancer research, with numerous drug candidates under investigation which target it.[10][11]