Lin Wan-Hsin, Asmann Yan W, Anastasiadis Panos Z
Department of Cancer Biology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA.
Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA.
Cancer Inform. 2015 Mar 30;14(Suppl 3):15-28. doi: 10.4137/CIN.S18964. eCollection 2015.
Polarity protein complexes are crucial for epithelial apical-basal polarity and directed cell migration. Since alterations of these processes are common in cancer, polarity proteins have been proposed to function as tumor suppressors or oncogenic promoters. Here, we review the current understanding of polarity protein functions in epithelial homeostasis, as well as tumor formation and progression. As most previous studies focused on the function of single polarity proteins in simplified model systems, we used a genomics approach to systematically examine and identify the expression profiles of polarity genes in human cancer. The expression profiles of polarity genes were distinct in different human tissues and classified cancer types. Additionally, polarity expression profiles correlated with disease progression and aggressiveness, as well as with identified cancer types, where specific polarity genes were commonly altered. In the case of Scribble, gene expression analysis indicated its common amplification and upregulation in human cancer, suggesting a tumor promoting function.
极性蛋白复合物对于上皮细胞的顶-基极性和定向细胞迁移至关重要。由于这些过程的改变在癌症中很常见，因此有人提出极性蛋白可作为肿瘤抑制因子或致癌促进因子发挥作用。在这里，我们综述了目前对极性蛋白在上皮细胞稳态以及肿瘤形成和进展中的功能的理解。由于之前的大多数研究集中在简化模型系统中单个极性蛋白的功能上，我们采用基因组学方法系统地研究和鉴定了人类癌症中极性基因的表达谱。极性基因的表达谱在不同的人类组织和分类的癌症类型中是不同的。此外，极性表达谱与疾病进展和侵袭性以及已确定的癌症类型相关，在这些癌症类型中特定的极性基因通常会发生改变。就scribble而言，基因表达分析表明它在人类癌症中普遍扩增和上调，提示其具有促肿瘤功能。
