Beyond a tumor suppressor: Soluble E‐cadherin promotes the progression of cancer |
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| Authors: | Qing‐Kai Yang Xiu‐Wu Bian Shi‐Cang Yu |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of DaLian Medical University, Institute of Cancer Stem Cell, DaLian Medical University, Dalian, Liaoning, China;2. Institute of Pathology and Southwest Cancer Center, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China |
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| Abstract: | E‐cadherin (E‐cad) plays important roles in tumorigenesis as well as in tumor progression, invasion and metastasis. This protein exists in two forms: a membrane‐tethered form and a soluble form. Full‐length E‐cad is membrane tethered. As a type I transmembrane glycoprotein, E‐cad mainly mediates adherens junctions between cells and is involved in maintaining the normal structure of epithelial tissues. Soluble E‐cad (sE‐cad) is the extracellular fragment of the protein that is cleaved from the membrane after proteolysis of full‐length E‐cad. The production of sE‐cad undermines adherens junctions, causing a reduction in cell aggregation capacity; furthermore, sE‐cad can diffuse into the extracellular environment and the blood. As a paracrine/autocrine signaling molecule, sE‐cad activates or inhibits multiple signaling pathways and participates in the progression of various types of cancer, such as breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and lung cancer, by promoting invasion and metastasis. This article briefly reviews the role of sE‐cad in tumorigenesis and tumor progression and its significance in clinical therapeutics. |
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| Keywords: | E‐cadherin soluble E‐cadherin cancer metastasis |
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