Myal Yvonne, Leygue Etienne, Blanchard Anne A
Department of Pathology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3E0W3.
J Biomed Biotechnol. 2010;2010:956897. doi: 10.1155/2010/956897. Epub 2010 May 13.
Claudins are the major component of the tight junctions in epithelial cells and as such play a key role in the polarized location of ion channels, receptors, and enzymes to the different membrane domains. In that regard, claudins are necessary for the harmonious development of a functional epithelium. Moreover, defective tight junctions have been associated with the development of neoplastic phenotype in epithelial cells. Breakdown of cell-cell interactions and deregulation of the expression of junctional proteins are therefore believed to be key steps in invasion and metastasis. Several studies suggest that the claudins are major participants in breast tumorigenesis. In this paper, we discuss recent advances in our understanding of the potential role of claudin 1 in breast cancer. We also discuss the significance of a subset of estrogen receptor negative breast cancers which express "high" levels of the claudin 1 protein. We propose that claudin 1 functions both as a tumor suppressor as well as a tumor enhancer/facilitator in breast cancer.
紧密连接蛋白是上皮细胞紧密连接的主要成分，因此在离子通道、受体和酶向不同膜结构域的极化定位中起关键作用。在这方面，紧密连接蛋白对于功能性上皮的和谐发育是必需的。此外，紧密连接缺陷与上皮细胞肿瘤表型的发展有关。因此，细胞间相互作用的破坏和连接蛋白表达的失调被认为是侵袭和转移的关键步骤。几项研究表明，紧密连接蛋白是乳腺肿瘤发生的主要参与者。在本文中，我们讨论了我们对紧密连接蛋白1在乳腺癌中潜在作用理解的最新进展。我们还讨论了表达“高”水平紧密连接蛋白1的雌激素受体阴性乳腺癌子集的意义。我们提出紧密连接蛋白1在乳腺癌中既起肿瘤抑制作用，也起肿瘤增强/促进作用。
