TY - JOUR

T1 - Epithelial cell polarity, stem cells and cancer

AU - Martin-Belmonte, Fernando

AU - Perez-Moreno, Mirna

PY - 2012

Y1 - 2012

N2 - After years of extensive scientific discovery much has been learned about the networks that regulate epithelial homeostasis. Loss of expression or functional activity of cell adhesion and cell polarity proteins (including the PAR, crumbs (CRB) and scribble (SCRIB) complexes) is intricately related to advanced stages of tumour progression and invasiveness. But the key roles of these proteins in crosstalk with the Hippo and liver kinase B1 (LKB1)-AMPK pathways and in epithelial function and proliferation indicate that they may also be associated with the early stages of tumorigenesis. For example, deregulation of adhesion and polarity proteins can cause misoriented cell divisions and increased self-renewal of adult epithelial stem cells. In this Review, we highlight some advances in the understanding of how loss of epithelial cell polarity contributes to tumorigenesis.

AB - After years of extensive scientific discovery much has been learned about the networks that regulate epithelial homeostasis. Loss of expression or functional activity of cell adhesion and cell polarity proteins (including the PAR, crumbs (CRB) and scribble (SCRIB) complexes) is intricately related to advanced stages of tumour progression and invasiveness. But the key roles of these proteins in crosstalk with the Hippo and liver kinase B1 (LKB1)-AMPK pathways and in epithelial function and proliferation indicate that they may also be associated with the early stages of tumorigenesis. For example, deregulation of adhesion and polarity proteins can cause misoriented cell divisions and increased self-renewal of adult epithelial stem cells. In this Review, we highlight some advances in the understanding of how loss of epithelial cell polarity contributes to tumorigenesis.

KW - Animals

KW - Cell Cycle Proteins

KW - Cell Polarity

KW - Drosophila Proteins

KW - Epithelial Cells

KW - Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition

KW - Humans

KW - Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins

KW - Membrane Proteins

KW - Neoplasms

KW - Protein Structure, Tertiary

KW - Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases

KW - Signal Transduction

KW - Stem Cells

KW - Tumor Suppressor Proteins

KW - Journal Article

KW - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

KW - Review

U2 - 10.1038/nrc3169

DO - 10.1038/nrc3169

M3 - Review

C2 - 22169974

VL - 12

SP - 23

EP - 38

JO - Nature Reviews. Cancer

JF - Nature Reviews. Cancer

SN - 1474-175X

IS - 1

ER -