Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER
Volume 138, Issue 12, Pages 2804-2812Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/ijc.29982
Keywords
E-cadherin; soluble E-cadherin; cancer; metastasis
Categories
Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [81572880, 81172071, 81302193]
- Outstanding Youth Science Foundation of Chongqing [CSTC2013JCYJJQ10003]
- Postgraduate Education Foundation of Chongqing [YJG153062]
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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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