Xiao Di, Xiong Mingrui, Wang Xin, Lyu Mengqing, Sun Hanxiang, Cui Yeting, Chen Chen, Jiang Ziyu, Sun Fan
College of Life Sciences and Health, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430081, China.
Institute of Biology and Medicine, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430081, China.
Biomedicines. 2024 May 20;12(5):1129. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines12051129.
The epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) is a single transmembrane protein on the cell surface. Given its strong expression on epithelial cells and epithelial cell-derived tumors, EpCAM has been identified as a biomarker for circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and exosomes and a target for cancer therapy. As a cell adhesion molecule, EpCAM has a crystal structure that indicates that it forms a cis-dimer first and then probably a trans-tetramer to mediate intercellular adhesion. Through regulated intramembrane proteolysis (RIP), EpCAM and its proteolytic fragments are also able to regulate multiple signaling pathways, Wnt signaling in particular. Although great progress has been made, increasingly more findings have revealed the context-specific expression and function patterns of EpCAM and their regulation processes, which necessitates further studies to determine the structure, function, and expression of EpCAM under both physiological and pathological conditions, broadening its application in basic and translational cancer research.
上皮细胞粘附分子（EpCAM）是一种位于细胞表面的单次跨膜蛋白。鉴于其在上皮细胞和上皮细胞衍生肿瘤上的强表达，EpCAM已被确定为循环肿瘤细胞（CTC）和外泌体的生物标志物以及癌症治疗的靶点。作为一种细胞粘附分子，EpCAM具有晶体结构，表明它首先形成顺式二聚体，然后可能形成反式四聚体来介导细胞间粘附。通过调节性膜内蛋白水解（RIP），EpCAM及其蛋白水解片段还能够调节多种信号通路，尤其是Wnt信号通路。尽管已经取得了很大进展，但越来越多的研究结果揭示了EpCAM的背景特异性表达和功能模式及其调节过程，这需要进一步研究以确定EpCAM在生理和病理条件下的结构、功能和表达，从而拓宽其在基础和转化癌症研究中的应用。
