Abstract
Breast cancer, one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity among females, is regulated in part by diverse classes of adhesion molecules one of which is known as cadherins. Located at adherens junctions, the members of this superfamily are responsible for upholding proper cell-cell adhesion. Cadherins possess diverse structures and functions and any alteration in their structures or functions causes impeding of normal mammary cells development and maintenance, thus leading to breast malignancy. E-, N-, P-, VE-, Proto-, desmosomal and FAT cadherins have been found to regulate breast cancer in positive as well as negative fashion, whereby both Ecadherin (CDH1) and N-cadherin (CDH2) contribute significantly towards transitioning from epithelial state to mesenchymal state (EMT) and enacting the abnormal cells to invade and metastasize nearby and distant tissues. Aberration in gene expression of cadherins can be either due to somatic or epigenetic silencing or via transcriptional factors. Besides other cadherins, E-cadherin which serves as hallmark of EMT is associated with several regulatory factors such as Snail, Slug, Twist, Zeb, KLF4, NFI, TBX2, SIX, b-Myb, COX-2, Arf6, FOXA2, GATA3 and SMAR1, which modulate E-cadherin gene transcription to promote or represses tumor invasion and colonization. Signaling molecules such as Notch, TGF-β, estrogen receptors, EGF and Wnt initiate numerous signaling cascades via these vital factors of cell programming, controlling expression of E-cadherin at transcriptional (mRNA) and protein level. Thus, interactions of cadherins with their roles in tumor suppression and oncogenic transformation can be beneficial in providing valuable insights for breast cancer diagnosis and therapeutics development.
Keywords: Breast cancer, cell adhesion, cadherins, CDH1, CDH2, epigenetic silencing, EMT, tumor repressor, transcriptional factors, signaling pathways.
Current Pharmaceutical Design
Title:Cadherins: The Superfamily Critically Involved in Breast Cancer
Volume: 22 Issue: 5
Author(s): Maeirah Afzal Ashaie and Ezharul Hoque Chowdhury
Affiliation:
Keywords: Breast cancer, cell adhesion, cadherins, CDH1, CDH2, epigenetic silencing, EMT, tumor repressor, transcriptional factors, signaling pathways.
Abstract: Breast cancer, one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity among females, is regulated in part by diverse classes of adhesion molecules one of which is known as cadherins. Located at adherens junctions, the members of this superfamily are responsible for upholding proper cell-cell adhesion. Cadherins possess diverse structures and functions and any alteration in their structures or functions causes impeding of normal mammary cells development and maintenance, thus leading to breast malignancy. E-, N-, P-, VE-, Proto-, desmosomal and FAT cadherins have been found to regulate breast cancer in positive as well as negative fashion, whereby both Ecadherin (CDH1) and N-cadherin (CDH2) contribute significantly towards transitioning from epithelial state to mesenchymal state (EMT) and enacting the abnormal cells to invade and metastasize nearby and distant tissues. Aberration in gene expression of cadherins can be either due to somatic or epigenetic silencing or via transcriptional factors. Besides other cadherins, E-cadherin which serves as hallmark of EMT is associated with several regulatory factors such as Snail, Slug, Twist, Zeb, KLF4, NFI, TBX2, SIX, b-Myb, COX-2, Arf6, FOXA2, GATA3 and SMAR1, which modulate E-cadherin gene transcription to promote or represses tumor invasion and colonization. Signaling molecules such as Notch, TGF-β, estrogen receptors, EGF and Wnt initiate numerous signaling cascades via these vital factors of cell programming, controlling expression of E-cadherin at transcriptional (mRNA) and protein level. Thus, interactions of cadherins with their roles in tumor suppression and oncogenic transformation can be beneficial in providing valuable insights for breast cancer diagnosis and therapeutics development.
Export Options
About this article
Cite this article as:
Ashaie Afzal Maeirah and Chowdhury Hoque Ezharul, Cadherins: The Superfamily Critically Involved in Breast Cancer, Current Pharmaceutical Design 2016; 22 (5) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/138161282205160127095338
DOI https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/138161282205160127095338 |
Print ISSN 1381-6128 |
Publisher Name Bentham Science Publisher |
Online ISSN 1873-4286 |
Call for Papers in Thematic Issues
"Tuberculosis Prevention, Diagnosis and Drug Discovery"
The Nobel Prize-winning discoveries of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and streptomycin have enabled an appropriate diagnosis and an effective treatment of tuberculosis (TB). Since then, many newer diagnosis methods and drugs have been saving millions of lives. Despite advances in the past, TB is still a leading cause of infectious disease mortality ...read more
Current Pharmaceutical challenges in the treatment and diagnosis of neurological dysfunctions
Neurological dysfunctions (MND, ALS, MS, PD, AD, HD, ALS, Autism, OCD etc..) present significant challenges in both diagnosis and treatment, often necessitating innovative approaches and therapeutic interventions. This thematic issue aims to explore the current pharmaceutical landscape surrounding neurological disorders, shedding light on the challenges faced by researchers, clinicians, and ...read more
Emerging and re-emerging diseases
Faced with a possible endemic situation of COVID-19, the world has experienced two important phenomena, the emergence of new infectious diseases and/or the resurgence of previously eradicated infectious diseases. Furthermore, the geographic distribution of such diseases has also undergone changes. This context, in turn, may have a strong relationship with ...read more
Melanoma and Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer Treatment: Standard of Care and Recent Advances
In this thematic issue, we aim to provide a standard of care of the diagnosis and treatment of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer. The editor will invite authors from different countries who will write review articles of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers. The Diagnosis, Staging, Surgical Treatment, Non-Surgical Treatment all ...read more
- Author Guidelines
- Graphical Abstracts
- Fabricating and Stating False Information
- Research Misconduct
- Post Publication Discussions and Corrections
- Publishing Ethics and Rectitude
- Increase Visibility of Your Article
- Archiving Policies
- Peer Review Workflow
- Order Your Article Before Print
- Promote Your Article
- Manuscript Transfer Facility
- Editorial Policies
- Allegations from Whistleblowers
- Announcements
Related Articles
-
Modular Organization in a Cell: Concepts and Applications
Current Bioinformatics Liposomes Co- encapsulating Anticancer Drugs in Synergistic Ratios as an Approach to Promote Increased Efficacy and Greater Safety
Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry Dendritic Cell-Based Immunotherapy in Thyroid Malignancies
Current Drug Targets - Immune, Endocrine & Metabolic Disorders Plant-Derived Products as Antibacterial and Antifungal Agents in Human Health Care
Current Medicinal Chemistry Targeting RGD Recognizing Integrins: Drug Development, Biomaterial Research, Tumor Imaging and Targeting
Current Pharmaceutical Design Design, Synthesis and Multidrug Resistance Reversal Activity Evaluation of 8-Oxocoptisine Derivatives
Medicinal Chemistry Design and Synthesis of Mannich bases as Benzimidazole Derivatives as Analgesic Agents
Anti-Inflammatory & Anti-Allergy Agents in Medicinal Chemistry Estrogens and Thyroid Hormones: Non-Genomic Effects are Coupled to Transcription
Immunology, Endocrine & Metabolic Agents in Medicinal Chemistry (Discontinued) Three Decades of P-gp Inhibitors: Skimming Through Several Generations and Scaffolds
Current Medicinal Chemistry Antiepileptics and the Treatment of Neuropathic Pain: Evidence from Animal Models
Current Pharmaceutical Design Gap Junction Synthesis and Degradation as Therapeutic Targets
Current Drug Targets The Role of Neurogenesis in Neurodegenerative Diseases and its Implications for Therapeutic Development
CNS & Neurological Disorders - Drug Targets Overexpression of <i>microRNA-21</i> in the Serum of Breast Cancer Patients
MicroRNA ETS Proteins and MMPs: Partners in Invasion and Metastasis
Medicinal Chemistry Reviews - Online (Discontinued) In Vivo Imaging of Oligonucleotides with Nuclear Tomography
Current Drug Targets Medical Therapy and Mucosal Healing
Current Drug Targets Regulation of Angiogenesis by the Small Heat Shock Protein αB-Crystallin
Current Angiogenesis (Discontinued) Meet Our Editorial Board Member
The Natural Products Journal NK Cell Receptor and MHC Gene Polymorphisms, Potential Relevance in Malignancies
Current Cancer Therapy Reviews Targetting Esophageal and Gastric Cancers with Monoclonal Antibodies
Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry