Open AccessN-cadherin in cancer dormancy
Author(s) -
Garima Sinha,
Pranela Rameshwar
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
cell death in therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2353-7817
DOI - 10.1515/cdth-2015-0002
Subject(s) - cadherin , catenin , epithelial–mesenchymal transition , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , metastasis , cancer stem cell , cancer research , beta catenin , motility , cancer cell , cancer , signal transduction , stem cell , wnt signaling pathway , cell , genetics
N-cadherin is an adhesion protein, which is important for intercellular interaction. It is involved in cell migration and motility during embryonic development, neuronal synapsis and cancer metastasis. There are several signaling cascades affected by N-cadherin including TGF-β, Rho family. N-cadherin is associated at the cytoplasmic domain with catenins (α, β, γ and p120) to facilitate metastasis. An increase in N-cadherin with down regulation of E-cadherin occurs during epithelial mesenchymal transition. Overexpression of N-cadherin is associated with cell cycle arrest, which correlates with a similar property of cancer stem cells (CSC). Connexin expression, which is important in CSC dormancy, is regulated by N-cadherin. This review discusses the potential of N-cadherin to be involved in maintaining CSCs, and to investigate pathways in N-cadherin expression. A better understanding of the role of N-Cadherin in CSC biology may identify new targets for the treatment of cancer.