Connexins, gap junctions and tissue invasion

Formation of metastases negatively impacts the survival prognosis of cancer patients. Globally, if the various steps involved in their formation are relatively well identified, the molecular mechanisms responsible for the emergence of invasive cancer cells are still incompletely resolved. Elucidatin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:FEBS letters 2014-04, Vol.588 (8), p.1331-1338
Main Authors: Defamie, Norah, Chepied, Amandine, Mesnil, Marc
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
amoeboid to mesenchymal transition
AMT
Animals
Biochemistry, Molecular Biology
Cancer
Cell Adhesion
Cellular Biology
Connexin
Connexins - metabolism
ECM
EMT
epithelial to mesenchymal transition
Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition
extra cellular matrix
Gap junction
gap junctional intercellular communication
Gap Junctions - metabolism
GJIC
Human health and pathology
Humans
Invasion and tumor cell
Life Sciences
MAT
matrix metalloproteases
mesenchymal to amoeboid transition
Migration
MMP
Neoplasm Invasiveness
Neoplasms - metabolism
Neoplasms - pathology
Proteolysis
TIMP
tissue inhibitors of metalloproteases
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Summary:Formation of metastases negatively impacts the survival prognosis of cancer patients. Globally, if the various steps involved in their formation are relatively well identified, the molecular mechanisms responsible for the emergence of invasive cancer cells are still incompletely resolved. Elucidating what are the mechanisms that allow cancer cells to evade from the tumor is a crucial point since it is the first step of the metastatic potential of a solid tumor. In order to be invasive, cancer cells have to undergo transformations such as down-regulation of cell-cell adhesions, modification of cell-matrix adhesions and acquisition of proteolytic properties. These transformations are accompanied by the capacity to “activate” stromal cells, which may favor the motility of the invasive cells through the extracellular matrix. Since modulation of gap junctional intercellular communication is known to be involved in cancer, we were interested to consider whether these different transformations necessary for the acquisition of invasive phenotype are related with gap junctions and their structural proteins, the connexins. In this review, emerging roles of connexins and gap junctions in the process of tissue invasion are proposed.
ISSN:0014-5793
1873-3468
DOI:10.1016/j.febslet.2014.01.012