scholarly journals Proteolytic Processing of CD44 and Its Implications in Cancer

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Priscila Anhel Medrano-González ◽  
Osmar Rivera-Ramírez ◽  
Luis Felipe Montaño ◽  
Erika P. Rendón-Huerta

CD44 is a transmembrane glycoprotein expressed in several healthy and tumor tissues. Modifications in its structure contribute differently to the activity of this molecule. One modification that has provoked interest is the consecutive cleavage of the CD44 extracellular ectodomain by enzymes that belong mainly to the family of metalloproteases. This process releases biologically active substrates, via alternative splice forms of CD44, that generate CD44v3 or v6 isoforms which participate in the transcriptional regulation of genes and proteins associated to signaling pathways involved in the development of cancer. These include the protooncogene tyrosine-protein kinase Src (c-Src)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), the epithelial growth factor receptor, the estrogen receptor, Wnt/βcatenin, or Hippo signaling pathways all of which are associated to cell proliferation, differentiation, or cancer progression. Whereas CD44 still remains as a very useful prognostic cell marker in different pathologies, the main topic is that the generation of CD44 intracellular fragments assists the regulation of transcriptional proteins involved in the cell cycle, cell metabolism, and most importantly, the regulation of some stem cell-associated markers.

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahra Koveitypour ◽  
Farnoush Panahi ◽  
Mehrdad Vakilian ◽  
Maryam Peymani ◽  
Farzad Seyed Forootan ◽  
...  

AbstractColorectal cancer (CRC) is the fourth leading cause of the worldwide cancer mortality. Different molecular mechanisms have been attributed to the development and progress of CRC. In this review, we will focus on the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades downstream of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), Notch, PI3K/AKT pathway, transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), and Wnt signaling pathways. Various mutations in the components of these signaling pathways have been linked to the development of CRC. Accordingly, numerous efforts have been carried out to target the signaling pathways to develop novel therapeutic approaches. Herein, we review the signaling pathways involved in the incidence and progression of CRC, and the strategies for the therapy targeting components of signaling pathways in CRC.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-Wen Zheng ◽  
Zhi-Han Li ◽  
Lei Lei ◽  
Chen-Chen Liu ◽  
Zhao Wang ◽  
...  

Theranostics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (24) ◽  
pp. 11063-11079
Author(s):  
Lixia Chen ◽  
Xiaoli Long ◽  
Shiyu Duan ◽  
Xunhua Liu ◽  
Jianxiong Chen ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 587
Author(s):  
Alexandru Oprita ◽  
Stefania-Carina Baloi ◽  
Georgiana-Adeline Staicu ◽  
Oana Alexandru ◽  
Daniela Elise Tache ◽  
...  

Nowadays, due to recent advances in molecular biology, the pathogenesis of glioblastoma is better understood. For the newly diagnosed, the current standard of care is represented by resection followed by radiotherapy and temozolomide administration, but because median overall survival remains poor, new diagnosis and treatment strategies are needed. Due to the quick progression, even with aggressive multimodal treatment, glioblastoma remains almost incurable. It is known that epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) amplification is a characteristic of the classical subtype of glioma. However, targeted therapies against this type of receptor have not yet shown a clear clinical benefit. Many factors contribute to resistance, such as ineffective blood–brain barrier penetration, heterogeneity, mutations, as well as compensatory signaling pathways. A better understanding of the EGFR signaling network, and its interrelations with other pathways, are essential to clarify the mechanisms of resistance and create better therapeutic agents.


Biomolecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 926
Author(s):  
Veronica Vella ◽  
Marika Giuliano ◽  
Maria Luisa Nicolosi ◽  
Maria Giovanna Majorana ◽  
Małgorzata Anna Marć ◽  
...  

The insulin receptor isoform A (IR-A), a dual receptor for insulin and IGF2, plays a role in breast cancer (BC) progression and metabolic reprogramming. Notably, discoidin domain receptor 1 (DDR1), a collagen receptor often dysregulated in cancer, is involved in a functional crosstalk and feed forward loop with both the IR-A and the insulin like growth factor receptor 1 (IGF1R). Here, we aimed at investigating whether DDR1 might affect BC cell metabolism by modulating the IGF1R and/or the IR. To this aim, we generated MCF7 BC cells engineered to stably overexpress either IGF2 (MCF7/IGF2) or the IR-A (MCF7/IR-A). In both cell models, we observed that DDR1 silencing induced a significant decrease of total ATP production, particularly affecting the rate of mitochondrial ATP production. We also observed the downregulation of key molecules implicated in both glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation. These metabolic changes were not modulated by DDR1 binding to collagen and occurred in part in the absence of IR/IGF1R phosphorylation. DDR1 silencing was ineffective in MCF7 knocked out for DDR1. Taken together, these results indicate that DDR1, acting in part independently of IR / IGF1R stimulation, might work as a novel regulator of BC metabolism and should be considered as putative target for therapy in BC.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 184
Author(s):  
Kalpana K. Bhanumathy ◽  
Amrutha Balagopal ◽  
Frederick S. Vizeacoumar ◽  
Franco J. Vizeacoumar ◽  
Andrew Freywald ◽  
...  

Protein kinases constitute a large group of enzymes catalysing protein phosphorylation and controlling multiple signalling events. The human protein kinase superfamily consists of 518 members and represents a complicated system with intricate internal and external interactions. Protein kinases are classified into two main families based on the ability to phosphorylate either tyrosine or serine and threonine residues. Among the 90 tyrosine kinase genes, 58 are receptor types classified into 20 groups and 32 are of the nonreceptor types distributed into 10 groups. Tyrosine kinases execute their biological functions by controlling a variety of cellular responses, such as cell division, metabolism, migration, cell–cell and cell matrix adhesion, cell survival and apoptosis. Over the last 30 years, a major focus of research has been directed towards cancer-associated tyrosine kinases owing to their critical contributions to the development and aggressiveness of human malignancies through the pathological effects on cell behaviour. Leukaemia represents a heterogeneous group of haematological malignancies, characterised by an uncontrolled proliferation of undifferentiated hematopoietic cells or leukaemia blasts, mostly derived from bone marrow. They are usually classified as chronic or acute, depending on the rates of their progression, as well as myeloid or lymphoblastic, according to the type of blood cells involved. Overall, these malignancies are relatively common amongst both children and adults. In malignant haematopoiesis, multiple tyrosine kinases of both receptor and nonreceptor types, including AXL receptor tyrosine kinase (AXL), Discoidin domain receptor 1 (DDR1), Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), Fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR), Mesenchymal–epithelial transition factor (MET), proto-oncogene c-Src (SRC), Spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) and pro-oncogenic Abelson tyrosine-protein kinase 1 (ABL1) mutants, are implicated in the pathogenesis and drug resistance of practically all types of leukaemia. The role of ABL1 kinase mutants and their therapeutic inhibitors have been extensively analysed in scientific literature, and therefore, in this review, we provide insights into the impact and mechanism of action of other tyrosine kinases involved in the development and progression of human leukaemia and discuss the currently available and emerging treatment options based on targeting these molecules.


Biomedicines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 195
Author(s):  
Francisca Dias ◽  
Cristina Almeida ◽  
Ana Luísa Teixeira ◽  
Mariana Morais ◽  
Rui Medeiros

The development and progression of colorectal cancer (CRC) have been associated with genetic and epigenetic alterations and more recently with changes in cell metabolism. Amino acid transporters are key players in tumor development, and it is described that tumor cells upregulate some AA transporters in order to support the increased amino acid (AA) intake to sustain the tumor additional needs for tumor growth and proliferation through the activation of several signaling pathways. LAT1 and ASCT2 are two AA transporters involved in the regulation of the mTOR pathway that has been reported as upregulated in CRC. Some attempts have been made in order to develop therapeutic approaches to target these AA transporters, however none have reached the clinical setting so far. MiRNA-based therapies have been gaining increasing attention from pharmaceutical companies and now several miRNA-based drugs are currently in clinical trials with promising results. In this review we combine a bioinformatic approach with a literature review in order to identify a miRNA profile with the potential to target both LAT1 and ASCT2 with potential to be used as a therapeutic approach against CRC.


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