Journal
CELL CYCLE
Volume 13, Issue 15, Pages 2334-2339Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS INC
DOI: 10.4161/cc.29765
Keywords
Hedgehog; NF-kB; YAP; cancer; tumor suppressor; alpha-catenin; beta-catenin
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Funding
- US National Institutes of Health [R00CA138572, R01CA166051]
- Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas Scholar Award [R1004]
- Jeanne F Shelby Scholarship Fund of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
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Downregulation or loss of alpha-catenin occurs in multiple human cancer types. The traditional view of alpha-catenin is that it is one of the core components of the E-cadherin-catenin complex and is required for maintaining the integrity of the intercellular adherens junction, a cell junction whose cytoplasmic face is linked to the actin cytoskeleton. Therefore, loss of alpha-catenin can result in loss of cell-cell adhesion, a common characteristic of cancer cells. There is an emerging recognition; however, that alpha-catenin also regulates multiple signaling pathways independent of adherens junctions. For instance, alpha-catenin functions as a tumor suppressor in E-cadherin-negative basal like breast cancer cells by inhibiting NF-kappa B signaling. In this perspective, we discuss the role and mechanisms of alpha-catenin in regulating several signaling pathways in cancer.
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