Abstract
The nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) family proteins are transcription factors that regulate the expression of a variety of target genes with or without forming complexes with other transcription factors. Although NFAT proteins have been extensively investigated and characterized in immune systems, their role in carcinogenesis are far from being understood. We, to our knowledge, are first to determine the potential involvement of the NFAT pathway in cell responses to carcinogen exposure. Experimental evidence accumulated from our studies indicate the critical role of NFAT3 in some carcinogen-induced cell transformation and tumorigenicity. Moreover, NFAT proteins have been found to be involved in cell cycle regulation, cell differentiation, cell survival, angiogenesis, and tumor cell invasion and metastasis. In the meantime, NFAT inhibitors are being developed with the ultimate aim to specifically switch off NFAT signaling without side effects. This review comprehensively reviews the results from the most recent studies, and also discusses some difficulties in current studies. To validate whether NFAT can be a promising target for chemoprevention, more research has to be done to further detail the roles of NFAT and to differentiate the functions of different members of this protein family in future studies.
Keywords: NFAT, Gene expression, Signaling pathway, calcineurin, cancer, chemoprevention
Current Cancer Drug Targets
Title: Transcription Factor NFAT, Its Role in Cancer Development, and as a Potential Target for Chemoprevention
Volume: 7 Issue: 4
Author(s): Haitian Lu and Chuanshu Huang
Affiliation:
Keywords: NFAT, Gene expression, Signaling pathway, calcineurin, cancer, chemoprevention
Abstract: The nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) family proteins are transcription factors that regulate the expression of a variety of target genes with or without forming complexes with other transcription factors. Although NFAT proteins have been extensively investigated and characterized in immune systems, their role in carcinogenesis are far from being understood. We, to our knowledge, are first to determine the potential involvement of the NFAT pathway in cell responses to carcinogen exposure. Experimental evidence accumulated from our studies indicate the critical role of NFAT3 in some carcinogen-induced cell transformation and tumorigenicity. Moreover, NFAT proteins have been found to be involved in cell cycle regulation, cell differentiation, cell survival, angiogenesis, and tumor cell invasion and metastasis. In the meantime, NFAT inhibitors are being developed with the ultimate aim to specifically switch off NFAT signaling without side effects. This review comprehensively reviews the results from the most recent studies, and also discusses some difficulties in current studies. To validate whether NFAT can be a promising target for chemoprevention, more research has to be done to further detail the roles of NFAT and to differentiate the functions of different members of this protein family in future studies.
Export Options
About this article
Cite this article as:
Lu Haitian and Huang Chuanshu, Transcription Factor NFAT, Its Role in Cancer Development, and as a Potential Target for Chemoprevention, Current Cancer Drug Targets 2007; 7 (4) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/156800907780809750
DOI https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/156800907780809750 |
Print ISSN 1568-0096 |
Publisher Name Bentham Science Publisher |
Online ISSN 1873-5576 |
Call for Papers in Thematic Issues
Advances in Cancer Biomarkers and Potential Drug Targets: From Diagnosis to Therapy
Cancer biomarkers play a crucial role in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of cancer. They provide valuable information for cancer detection, risk assessment, treatment selection, and monitoring response to therapy. With advancements in molecular biology and high-throughput technologies, there has been an increasing interest in identifying and characterizing cancer biomarkers ...read more
Novel Therapeutic Approaches to Target Drug Resistant Tumors
With the development of disciplines such as chemical biology and molecular biology, the genes or proteins closely related to tumor occurrence and development have gradually become clear. Targeted therapies targeting these genes or proteins provide more effective methods for tumor treatment. Tumor targeted drugs generally only act on specific targets ...read more
ROLE OF IMMUNE AND GENOTOXIC RESPONSE BIOMARKERS IN TUMOR MICROENVIRONMENT IN CANCER DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT
Biological biomarkers have been used in medical research as an indicator of a normal or abnormal process inside the body, or of a disease. Nowadays, various researchers are in process to explore and investigate the biological markers for the early assessment of cancer. DNA Damage response (DDR) pathways and immune ...read more
Targeting the battlefield between host and tumor: basic research and clinical practice on reshaping tumor immune microenvironment
Immune system protects host against malignant tumors through effector cells and molecules. Cancer development and its response to therapy are regulated by inflammation, which either promotes or suppresses cancer progression. Chronic inflammation facilitates cancer progression and treatment resistance, whereas induction of acute inflammatory reactions often lead to anti-cancer immune responses. ...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
Related Articles
-
Acknowledgement to Reviewers
Recent Patents on Anti-Cancer Drug Discovery Affinity-Based Methods in Drug-Target Discovery
Current Drug Targets Ag+ Complexes as Potential Therapeutic Agents in Medicine and Pharmacy
Current Medicinal Chemistry Signaling of MiRNAs-FOXM1 in Cancer and Potential Targeted Therapy
Current Drug Targets ZNF424 Induces Apoptosis and Inhibits Proliferation in Lung Carcinoma Cells
Current Molecular Medicine Design and Development of Nanovehicle-Based Delivery Systems for Preventive or Therapeutic Supplementation with Flavonoids
Current Medicinal Chemistry Analytical Tools for Detecting Amyloid Beta Oligomerisation and Assembly
Current Pharmaceutical Analysis Effect of Metformin and Statin Use on Survival in Pancreatic Cancer Patients: a Systematic Literature Review and Meta-analysis
Current Medicinal Chemistry Development of Environment-Friendly Insecticides Based on Enantioselectivity: Bifenthrin as a Case
Current Protein & Peptide Science Novel Therapeutic Approaches in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Role of Janus Kinases Inhibitors
Current Medicinal Chemistry Smart Phones As a Viable Data Collection Tool in Low-resource Settings: Case Study of Rwandan Community Health Workers
Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering (Discontinued) Mini-Review: Nucleus-Targeted Ribonucleases As Antitumor Drugs
Current Medicinal Chemistry Nano-Carriers of Combination Tumor Physical Stimuli-Responsive Therapies
Current Drug Delivery Current Advances in the Development of Anticancer Drugs Targeting Tyrosine Kinases of the Src Family
Current Drug Therapy Alternative Splice Variants of Survivin as Potential Targets in Cancer
Current Drug Discovery Technologies Reactive Oxygen Species: Physiological Roles in the Regulation of Vascular Cells
Current Molecular Medicine Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Oxopyrido[2,3-d] Pyrimidine-7- ones Derivatives as Covalent L858R/T790M Mutant Selective Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) Inhibitors
Letters in Drug Design & Discovery Modification of Alternative Splicing by Antisense Oligonucleotides as a Potential Chemotherapy for Cancer and Other Diseases
Current Cancer Drug Targets In-Situ Hybridization as a Molecular Tool in Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment
Current Medicinal Chemistry Indole-3-ethylsulfamoylphenylacrylamides with Potent Anti-proliferative and Anti-angiogenic Activities
Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry