Role of phytochemicals in the inhibition of epithelial–mesenchymal transition in cancer metastasis

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 3677-3685 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eun-Kyung Kim ◽  
Eun-Ju Choi ◽  
Trishna Debnath

Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) development is controlled by several signaling pathways including Hedgehog, Wnt, fibroblast growth factors (FGF), hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF),etc. Phytochemicals is very promising therapeutic candidate that inhibit the progression of EMT by inhibiting the signaling pathways.

2011 ◽  
Vol 437 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jørgen Wesche ◽  
Kaisa Haglund ◽  
Ellen Margrethe Haugsten

FGFs (fibroblast growth factors) and their receptors (FGFRs) play essential roles in tightly regulating cell proliferation, survival, migration and differentiation during development and adult life. Deregulation of FGFR signalling, on the other hand, has been associated with many developmental syndromes, and with human cancer. In cancer, FGFRs have been found to become overactivated by several mechanisms, including gene amplification, chromosomal translocation and mutations. FGFR alterations are detected in a variety of human cancers, such as breast, bladder, prostate, endometrial and lung cancers, as well as haematological malignancies. Accumulating evidence indicates that FGFs and FGFRs may act in an oncogenic fashion to promote multiple steps of cancer progression by inducing mitogenic and survival signals, as well as promoting epithelial–mesenchymal transition, invasion and tumour angiogenesis. Therapeutic strategies targeting FGFs and FGFRs in human cancer are therefore currently being explored. In the present review we will give an overview of FGF signalling, the main FGFR alterations found in human cancer to date, how they may contribute to specific cancer types and strategies for therapeutic intervention.


2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (Suppl 2) ◽  
pp. A57
Author(s):  
Christine Gauglhofer ◽  
Sandra Sagmeister ◽  
Wolfram Parzefall ◽  
Rolf Schulte-Hermann ◽  
Bettina Grasl-Krauppbettina

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (12) ◽  
pp. 3968 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Spugnini ◽  
Mariantonia Logozzi ◽  
Rossella Di Raimo ◽  
Davide Mizzoni ◽  
Stefano Fais

Metastatic diffusion is thought to be a multi-step phenomenon involving the release of cells from the primary tumor and their diffusion through the body. Currently, several hypotheses have been put forward in order to explain the origin of cancer metastasis, including epithelial–mesenchymal transition, mutagenesis of stem cells, and a facilitating role of macrophages, involving, for example, transformation or fusion hybridization with neoplastic cells. In this paradigm, tumor-secreted extracellular vesicles (EVs), such as exosomes, play a pivotal role in cell communications, delivering a plethora of biomolecules including proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. For their natural role in shuttling molecules, EVs have been newly considered a part of the metastatic cascade. They have a prominent role in preparing the so-called “tumor niches” in target organs. However, recent evidence has pointed out an even more interesting role of tumor EVs, consisting in their ability to induce malignant transformation in resident mesenchymal stem cells. All in all, in this review, we discuss the multiple involvements of EVs in the metastatic cascade, and how we can exploit and manipulate EVs in order to reduce the metastatic spread of malignant tumors.


2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Garima Sinha ◽  
Pranela Rameshwar

AbstractN-cadherin is an adhesion protein, which is important for intercellular interaction. It is involved in cell migration and motility during embryonic development, neuronal synapsis and cancer metastasis. There are several signaling cascades affected by N-cadherin including TGF-β, Rho family. N-cadherin is associated at the cytoplasmic domain with catenins (α, β, γ and p120) to facilitate metastasis. An increase in N-cadherin with down regulation of E-cadherin occurs during epithelial mesenchymal transition. Overexpression of N-cadherin is associated with cell cycle arrest, which correlates with a similar property of cancer stem cells (CSC). Connexin expression, which is important in CSC dormancy, is regulated by N-cadherin. This review discusses the potential of N-cadherin to be involved in maintaining CSCs, and to investigate pathways in N-cadherin expression. A better understanding of the role of N-Cadherin in CSC biology may identify new targets for the treatment of cancer.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 4985
Author(s):  
Saima Usman ◽  
Naushin H. Waseem ◽  
Thuan Khanh Ngoc Nguyen ◽  
Sahar Mohsin ◽  
Ahmad Jamal ◽  
...  

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a reversible plethora of molecular events where epithelial cells gain the phenotype of mesenchymal cells to invade the surrounding tissues. EMT is a physiological event during embryogenesis (type I) but also happens during fibrosis (type II) and cancer metastasis (type III). It is a multifaceted phenomenon governed by the activation of genes associated with cell migration, extracellular matrix degradation, DNA repair, and angiogenesis. The cancer cells employ EMT to acquire the ability to migrate, resist therapeutic agents and escape immunity. One of the key biomarkers of EMT is vimentin, a type III intermediate filament that is normally expressed in mesenchymal cells but is upregulated during cancer metastasis. This review highlights the pivotal role of vimentin in the key events during EMT and explains its role as a downstream as well as an upstream regulator in this highly complex process. This review also highlights the areas that require further research in exploring the role of vimentin in EMT. As a cytoskeletal protein, vimentin filaments support mechanical integrity of the migratory machinery, generation of directional force, focal adhesion modulation and extracellular attachment. As a viscoelastic scaffold, it gives stress-bearing ability and flexible support to the cell and its organelles. However, during EMT it modulates genes for EMT inducers such as Snail, Slug, Twist and ZEB1/2, as well as the key epigenetic factors. In addition, it suppresses cellular differentiation and upregulates their pluripotent potential by inducing genes associated with self-renewability, thus increasing the stemness of cancer stem cells, facilitating the tumour spread and making them more resistant to treatments. Several missense and frameshift mutations reported in vimentin in human cancers may also contribute towards the metastatic spread. Therefore, we propose that vimentin should be a therapeutic target using molecular technologies that will curb cancer growth and spread with reduced mortality and morbidity.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Lv ◽  
Qiyi Yi ◽  
Ying Yan ◽  
Fengmei Chao ◽  
Ming Li

Spinster homologue 2 (SPNS2), a transporter of S1P (sphingosine-1-phosphate), has been reported to mediate immune response, vascular development, and pathologic processes of diseases such as cancer via S1P signaling pathways. However, its biological functions and expression profile in colorectal cancer (CRC) is elusive. In this study, we disclosed that SPNS2 expression, which was regulated by copy number variation and DNA methylation of its promoter, was dramatically upregulated in colon adenoma and CRC compared to normal tissues. However, its expression was lower in CRC than in colon adenoma, and low expression of SPN2 correlated with advanced T/M/N stage and poor prognosis in CRC. Ectopic expression of SPNS2 inhibited cell proliferation, migration, epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), invasion, and metastasis in CRC cell lines, while silencing SPNS2 had the opposite effects. Meanwhile, measuring the intracellular and extracellular level of S1P after overexpression of SPNS2 pinpointed a S1P-independent model of SPNS2. Mechanically, SPNS2 led to PTEN upregulation and inactivation of Akt. Moreover, AKT inhibitor (MK2206) abrogated SPNS2 knockdown-induced promoting effects on the migration and invasion, while AKT activator (SC79) reversed the repression of migration and invasion by SPNS2 overexpression in CRC cells, confirming the pivotal role of AKT for SPNS2’s function. Collectively, our study demonstrated the suppressor role of SPNS2 during CRC metastasis, providing new insights into the pathology and molecular mechanisms of CRC progression.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Divya Adiga ◽  
Raghu Radhakrishnan ◽  
Sanjiban Chakrabarty ◽  
Prashant Kumar ◽  
Shama Prasada Kabekkodu

Despite substantial advances in the field of cancer therapeutics, metastasis is a significant challenge for a favorable clinical outcome. Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a process of acquiring increased motility, invasiveness, and therapeutic resistance by cancer cells for their sustained growth and survival. A plethora of intrinsic mechanisms and extrinsic microenvironmental factors drive the process of cancer metastasis. Calcium (Ca<sup>2+</sup>) signaling plays a critical role in dictating the adaptive metastatic cell behavior comprising of cell migration, invasion, angiogenesis, and intravasation. By modulating EMT, Ca<sup>2+</sup> signaling can regulate the complexity and dynamics of events leading to metastasis. This review summarizes the role of Ca<sup>2+</sup> signal remodeling in the regulation of EMT and metastasis in cancer.


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