Tight Junction Protein Signaling and Cancer Biology


Book Description

Abstract: Tight junctions (TJs) are intercellular protein complexes that preserve tissue homeostasis and integrity through the control of paracellular permeability and cell polarity. Recent findings have revealed the functional role of TJ proteins outside TJs and beyond their classical cellular functions as selective gatekeepers. This is illustrated by the dysregulation in TJ protein expression levels in response to external and intracellular stimuli, notably during tumorigenesis. A large body of knowledge has uncovered the well-established functional role of TJ proteins in cancer pathogenesis. Mechanistically, TJ proteins act as bidirectional signaling hubs that connect the extracellular compartment to the intracellular compartment. By modulating key signaling pathways, TJ proteins are crucial players in the regulation of cell proliferation, migration, and differentiation, all of which being essential cancer hallmarks crucial for tumor growth and metastasis. TJ proteins also promote the acquisition of stem cell phenotypes in cancer cells. These findings highlight their contribution to carcinogenesis and therapeutic resistance. Moreover, recent preclinical and clinical studies have used TJ proteins as therapeutic targets or prognostic markers. This review summarizes the functional role of TJ proteins in cancer biology and their impact for novel strategies to prevent and treat cancer




Tight Junctions in Cancer Metastasis


Book Description

There has been a dramatic increase in knowledge of tight junctions in the past decade. The molecular structure of tight junctions, cellular functions and the pathophysiological roles of tight junctions are becoming clear. Of the most important functions, the role of the cellular structure in cancer spread and drug delivery are increasingly realised. It is now clear that there are fundamental changes to tight junctions during the process of cancer development. Tight junctions are also critical to the metastatic process of cancer cells. The cellular structure is also crucial in drug therapies, namely, the permeability and bioavailability of the drugs, penetration of barriers such as the blood brain barrier. This current volume aims to summarise the current knowledge of tight junctions, their role in cancer and cancer metastasis and is of interest to scientists and clinicians.




Tight Junctions


Book Description

This volume explores the dynamic topic of tight junctions. The book focuses on tight junctions' role in sealing adjacent epithelial cells in a narrow band just beneath their apical surface. The book explains how tight junctions consist of a network of claudins and other proteins, and delves into how they hold cells together and form functional and protective barriers, regulating the passage of molecules and ions through the space between cells. The book opens with a discussion of the evolution of research on tight junctions, discussing a range of primary areas of growth, including the current knowledge on the particular physiological function of different claudins due to the development of an array of knock out mice. The chapters also explore in-depth studies of tight junctions in specific tissues (gut, lung and endothelia). This book offers a comprehensive understanding on post-translational modifications of occludin and its impact on tight junction function, as well as the molecular composition and function of tricellular tight junctions. This volume is particularly relevant to students and scientists in neuroscience, cell biology, physiology, cell differentiation, and cancer research.




Tight Junctions in Inflammation and Cancer


Book Description

This book provides an updated account of tight junctions of different epithelia and endothelia and addresses their anatomy, biochemistry, physiology, synthesis, assembly, and modulation. It also discusses the relationship between molecular structure, function, regulation, posttranslational modifications of tight junction proteins and their role in gut microbiota maintenance, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and intestinal barrier dysfunction-associated disorders important for the progression of human cancers. This book presents the pathological alterations of tight junctions at the blood-brain barrier that intensify or even initiate neurological dysfunction. Further, it reviews the significance of tight junctions and tight junction proteins in cancer development, infectious diseases, allergic reactions, and autoimmune disorders. Lastly, it highlights strategies for modulating tight junctions to enhance drug availability and organ deposition. This book is immensely useful for basic, translational, clinical, and interdisciplinary cancer researchers, practicing oncologists, and immunologists.




Molecular Structure and Function of the Tight Junction


Book Description

Aim of this volume is to clarify the relationship between molecular structure and function of tight junction proteins, as well as their regulation and their role in diseases. Current research may form a basis for future diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to diseases which seem to have not much in common but are characterized by defects of organ barriers, like Crohn's disease, renal hypertension, inner ear deafness, and cancerous diseases. Topics include the functions of distinct tight junction proteins as barrier or channel formers for solutes and water, characteristics of the tight junction in inflammatory bowel diseases, posttranslational modifications of tight junction proteins, the relation between renal tight junction proteins and blood pressure control, and the molecular structure of claudin-claudin interactions NOTE: Annals volumes are available for sale as individual books or as a journal. For information on institutional journal subscriptions, please visit www.blackwellpublishing.com/nyas. ACADEMY MEMBERS: Please contact the New York Academy of Sciences directly to place your order (www.nyas.org). Members of the New York Academy of Science receive full-text access to the Annals online and discounts on print volumes. Please visit http://www.nyas.org/MemberCenter/Join.aspx for more information about becoming a member.




Cancer Cell Signaling


Book Description

Cells respond to environmental cues through a complex and dynamic network of signaling pathways that normally maintain a critical balance between cellular proliferation, differentiation, senescence, and death. One current research challenge is to identify those aberrations in signal transd- tion that directly contribute to a loss of this division-limited equilibrium and the progression to malignant transformation. The study of cell-signaling m- ecules in this context is a central component of cancer research. From the knowledge of such targets, investigators have been able to productively advance many insightful hypotheses about how a particular cancer cell may misinterpret, or respond inappropriately to, growth regulatory cues in their environment. Despite these key insights, the rapidly evolving nature of cell signaling research in cancer has necessitated a continuous revision of these theoretical constructs and the updating of methods used in their study. One contemporary example of the evolution of this field is provided by an analysis of the Human Genome Project data, which reveal a previously unsuspected diversity in the multigene families encoding for most signaling pathway int- mediates. In assessing the usefulness of a particular methodological approach, therefore, we will need to keep in mind that there is a premium on those p- tocols that can be easily adapted for the analysis of multiple members within a gene family. Cancer Cell Signaling: Methods and Protocols brings together several such methods in cell signaling research that are scientifically grounded within the cancer biology field.




Innovative Medicine


Book Description

This book is devoted to innovative medicine, comprising the proceedings of the Uehara Memorial Foundation Symposium 2014. It remains extremely rare for the findings of basic research to be developed into clinical applications, and it takes a long time for the process to be achieved. The task of advancing the development of basic research into clinical reality lies with translational science, yet the field seems to struggle to find a way to move forward. To create innovative medical technology, many steps need to be taken: development and analysis of optimal animal models of human diseases, elucidation of genomic and epidemiological data, and establishment of “proof of concept”. There is also considerable demand for progress in drug research, new surgical procedures, and new clinical devices and equipment. While the original research target may be rare diseases, it is also important to apply those findings more broadly to common diseases. The book covers a wide range of topics and is organized into three complementary parts. The first part is basic research for innovative medicine, the second is translational research for innovative medicine, and the third is new technology for innovative medicine. This book helps to understand innovative medicine and to make progress in its realization.




Cancer Cell Signaling


Book Description

Cell signaling is a field that studies how cells communicate to control basic activities and respond to their environment. When looking specifically at cancer cells, researchers can gain a better understanding of cancer on a cellular level, an understanding that may have implications for developing new treatments. The current volume provides an overview of the field and how various cell biology techniques are used to better understand cancer on a cellular level. This easily accessible reference volume offers a comprehensive look at the field of cancer cell signaling. Edited by a researcher from Florida Atlantic University, Cancer Cell Signaling: Targeting Signaling Pathways Towards Therapeutic Approaches to Cancer is an authoritative and easy-to-use reference.




Intercellular Communication in Cancer


Book Description

Cells are by nature compelled to live in groups. They develop dependence over signaling cues received from their microenvironment, in particular from other cells, whether of their own “kind” or of a different type. Therefore, communicating with these cells is a critical aspect of their behavior and fate, as they live and die normally or as they undergo disease-related pathological changes, with dramatic repercussions. In this book, we have asked expert researchers in the field of Intercellular Communication in Cancer to provide chapters on different aspects of interaction between neighboring cells, in the context of cancer diseases. We have specifically focused our efforts on membrane-to-membrane contact-based rather than growth factors-mediated modes of intercellular communications. The contributing authors provide an extensive overview of their respective area of specialization, with an in-depth discussion of the molecular mechanisms of cell-cell interactions, the impact on tumor progression and response to therapies, as well as the cancer diagnostic value of this scientific information. This book aims to introduce essential aspects of the normal and pathological cellular fate and homeostasis to both scientists and clinicians, and also to provide established researchers with an update on the novelties and future directions this expanding field is witnessing.




Translation and Its Regulation in Cancer Biology and Medicine


Book Description

This book, for the first time, comprehensively assembles and analyzes a large body of information on the role of the fundamental mechanism of the protein biosynthesis pathway, translation, in cancer biology. It systematically explores the function of the translation machinery and its regulation, including cell signaling, in the development, maintenance and progression of human cancer. The work presented here unveils the tremendous potential and applications of this vast and exciting branch of genetic, biochemical and molecular science in cancer medicine and drug development. Chapters contributed by experts in the field take the reader on a journey that starts with a dissection of the translation machinery and its regulation in norm and cancer. Later chapters characterize etiological and pathogenetic roles that translation plays in specific cancer types. Various aspects of diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic significance of the translation machinery and its control in cancer are discussed. Readers will discover the importance of the process of translation and its regulatory mechanisms in physiology and cancer biology. The chapters and the numerous illustrations included here were contributed by expert scientists and clinicians from renowned academic and clinical establishments in Canada, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Belgium, Spain, Germany and Australia. The book conveys information and knowledge that may interest a broad range of students and scholars ranging from basic scientists to clinicians and drug developers seeking to better understand the protein synthesis and its aberrations in cancer biology and cancer medicine.