EphA2在鼻咽癌致病过程中的作用及治疗靶点展望

促红细胞生成素产生肝细胞受体(erythropoietin-producing hepatocellular receptor,Eph)及其配体ephrin,是最大受体酪氨酸激酶(RTK)家族,由于配体ephrin和Eph受体均结合在细胞膜上,激活的信号转导通路,一般发生在直接接触的细胞之间,具有双向信号转导的独特特点。Eph受体-ephrin配体导致排斥性细胞收缩反应在许多生理和病理过程中起重要作用,在16种Eph受体中,EphA2与肿瘤的联系最强,因此已被广泛研究。肿瘤细胞中的EphA2信号传导可能具有促进肿瘤或抑制肿瘤的作用,取决于肿瘤微环境,EphA2具有需要配体和激酶活性的经典信号,也具有不需要配体或激酶活性的非经典信号形式。本文就近年来Epha2在鼻咽癌致病过程中非受体依赖机制和作为EB病毒感染关键分子的作用及治疗靶点展望等研究进展进行综述,以期为鼻咽癌的预防和治疗提供新的思路。

Role of EphA2 in pathogenesis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and its potential as a therapeutic target

The erythropoietin-producing hepatocellular receptor (Eph) and its ligand ephrin are the largest of the receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) family in humans. Since ephrin ligands and Eph receptors are membrane-bound proteins, binding and activation of Eph/ephrin intracellular signaling pathways can only occur via direct cell-cell interaction. Eph-ephrin complexes emanate bidirectional signals that affect cells expressing Eph and ephrin, respectively. Its repulsive signaling effects include retraction, which plays an important role in many physiological and pathological processes. EphA2 has been found to have a strong association with tumors and is most widely studied. EphA2 signal transduction in tumor cells may promote or inhibit tumor, depending on the tumor microenvironment. EphA2 "canonical" signaling involves ligand binding and kinase activity; thus EphA2 "noncanonical" signaling is ligand independent and lacks kinase activity. This review summarizes the pathogenesis of EphA2 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), including ligand independent signal and EBV infection receptor, furthermore evaluates the prospect of its potential utilization as a target for cancer therapeutics. This may provide a new method for the prevention and treatment of NPC.