Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Mariotti, Agnese
• Perotti, Antonella
• Sessa, Cristiana
• Rüegg, Curzio

Titel

N-cadherin as a therapeutic target in cancer

Ist Teil von

• Expert opinion on investigational drugs, 2007-04, Vol.16 (4), p.451-465

Ort / Verlag

England: Informa UK Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2007

Quelle

Taylor & Francis Online Single Subscriptions

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• During tumor progression, cancer cells undergo dramatic changes in the expression profile of adhesion molecules resulting in detachment from original tissue and acquisition of a highly motile and invasive phenotype. A hallmark of this change, also referred to as the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, is the loss of E- (epithelial) cadherin and the de novo expression of N- (neural) cadherin adhesion molecules. N-cadherin promotes tumor cell survival, migration and invasion, and a high level of its expression is often associated with poor prognosis. N-cadherin is also expressed in endothelial cells and plays an essential role in the maturation and stabilization of normal vessels and tumor-associated angiogenic vessels. Increasing experimental evidence suggests that N-cadherin is a potential therapeutic target in cancer. A peptidic N-cadherin antagonist (ADH-1) has been developed and has entered clinical testing. In this review, the authors discuss the biochemical and functional features of N-cadherin, its potential role in cancer and angiogenesis, and summarize the preclinical and clinical results achieved with ADH-1.