Bench to bedside and back again: molecular mechanisms of alpha-catenin function and roles in tumorigenesis.
Semin Cancer Biol 2007;
18:53-64. [PMID:
17945508 DOI:
10.1016/j.semcancer.2007.08.003]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 92] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2007] [Accepted: 08/28/2007] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
The cadherin/catenin complex, comprised of E-cadherin, beta-catenin and alpha-catenin, is essential for initiating cell-cell adhesion, establishing cellular polarity and maintaining tissue organization. Disruption or loss of the cadherin/catenin complex is common in cancer. As the primary cell-cell adhesion protein in epithelial cells, E-cadherin has long been studied in cancer progression. Similarly, additional roles for beta-catenin in the Wnt signaling pathway has led to many studies of the role of beta-catenin in cancer. Alpha-catenin, in contrast, has received less attention. However, recent data demonstrate novel functions for alpha-catenin in regulating the actin cytoskeleton and cell-cell adhesion, which when perturbed could contribute to cancer progression. In this review, we use cancer data to evaluate molecular models of alpha-catenin function, from the canonical role of alpha-catenin in cell-cell adhesion to non-canonical roles identified following conditional alpha-catenin deletion. This analysis identifies alpha-catenin as a prognostic factor in cancer progression.
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