Martínez-Campa Carlos, Álvarez-García Virginia, Alonso-González Carolina, González Alicia, Cos Samuel
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, School of Medicine, University of Cantabria and Instituto de Investigación Valdecilla (IDIVAL), 39011 Santander, Spain.
Cancers (Basel). 2024 Feb 27;16(5):956. doi: 10.3390/cancers16050956.
The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a cell-biological program that occurs during the progression of several physiological processes and that can also take place during pathological situations such as carcinogenesis. The EMT program consists of the sequential activation of a number of intracellular signaling pathways aimed at driving epithelial cells toward the acquisition of a series of intermediate phenotypic states arrayed along the epithelial-mesenchymal axis. These phenotypic features include changes in the motility, conformation, polarity and functionality of cancer cells, ultimately leading cells to stemness, increased invasiveness, chemo- and radioresistance and the formation of cancer metastasis. Amongst the different existing types of the EMT, type 3 is directly involved in carcinogenesis. A type 3 EMT occurs in neoplastic cells that have previously acquired genetic and epigenetic alterations, specifically affecting genes involved in promoting clonal outgrowth and invasion. Markers such as E-cadherin; N-cadherin; vimentin; and transcription factors (TFs) like Twist, Snail and ZEB are considered key molecules in the transition. The EMT process is also regulated by microRNA expression. Many miRNAs have been reported to repress EMT-TFs. Thus, Snail 1 is repressed by miR-29, miR-30a and miR-34a; miR-200b downregulates Slug; and ZEB1 and ZEB2 are repressed by miR-200 and miR-205, respectively. Occasionally, some microRNA target genes act downstream of the EMT master TFs; thus, Twist1 upregulates the levels of miR-10b. Melatonin is an endogenously produced hormone released mainly by the pineal gland. It is widely accepted that melatonin exerts oncostatic actions in a large variety of tumors, inhibiting the initiation, progression and invasion phases of tumorigenesis. The molecular mechanisms underlying these inhibitory actions are complex and involve a great number of processes. In this review, we will focus our attention on the ability of melatonin to regulate some key EMT-related markers, transcription factors and micro-RNAs, summarizing the multiple ways by which this hormone can regulate the EMT. Since melatonin has no known toxic side effects and is also known to help overcome drug resistance, it is a good candidate to be considered as an adjuvant drug to conventional cancer therapies.
上皮-间质转化(EMT)是一种细胞生物学程序,发生于多种生理过程的进展过程中,也可在致癌作用等病理情况下出现。EMT程序包括一系列细胞内信号通路的顺序激活,旨在驱使上皮细胞获得沿上皮-间质轴排列的一系列中间表型状态。这些表型特征包括癌细胞的运动性、构象、极性和功能的变化,最终导致细胞干性增加、侵袭性增强、化疗和放疗抗性增加以及癌症转移的形成。在现有的不同类型的EMT中,3型直接参与致癌作用。3型EMT发生在先前已获得遗传和表观遗传改变的肿瘤细胞中,这些改变特别影响参与促进克隆性生长和侵袭的基因。诸如E-钙黏蛋白、N-钙黏蛋白、波形蛋白等标志物以及Twist、Snail和ZEB等转录因子被认为是该转化过程中的关键分子。EMT过程也受微小RNA表达的调控。许多微小RNA已被报道可抑制EMT转录因子。因此,Snail-1受miR-29、miR-30a和miR-34a抑制;miR-200b下调Slug;ZEB1和ZEB2分别受miR-200和miR-205抑制。偶尔,一些微小RNA靶基因在EMT主转录因子的下游起作用;因此,Twist1上调miR-10b的水平。褪黑素是一种主要由松果体释放的内源性产生的激素。人们普遍认为,褪黑素在多种肿瘤中发挥抑癌作用,抑制肿瘤发生的起始、进展和侵袭阶段。这些抑制作用的分子机制很复杂,涉及大量过程。在本综述中我们将重点关注褪黑素调节一些关键的EMT相关标志物、转录因子和微小RNA的能力,总结该激素调节EMT的多种方式。由于褪黑素尚无已知的毒副作用,且已知有助于克服耐药性,因此它是一种可被视为传统癌症治疗辅助药物的良好候选物。