scholarly journals Transcription Factors in Cancer Development and Therapy

Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 2296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kanchan Vishnoi ◽  
Navin Viswakarma ◽  
Ajay Rana ◽  
Basabi Rana

Cancer is a multi-step process and requires constitutive expression/activation of transcription factors (TFs) for growth and survival. Many of the TFs reported so far are critical for carcinogenesis. These include pro-inflammatory TFs, hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs), cell proliferation and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT)-controlling TFs, pluripotency TFs upregulated in cancer stem-like cells, and the nuclear receptors (NRs). Some of those, including HIFs, Myc, ETS-1, and β-catenin, are multifunctional and may regulate multiple other TFs involved in various pro-oncogenic events, including proliferation, survival, metabolism, invasion, and metastasis. High expression of some TFs is also correlated with poor prognosis and chemoresistance, constituting a significant challenge in cancer treatment. Considering the pivotal role of TFs in cancer, there is an urgent need to develop strategies targeting them. Targeting TFs, in combination with other chemotherapeutics, could emerge as a better strategy to target cancer. So far, targeting NRs have shown promising results in improving survival. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of the TFs that play a central role in cancer progression, which could be potential therapeutic candidates for developing specific inhibitors. Here, we also discuss the efforts made to target some of those TFs, including NRs.

Author(s):  
Rekha Gahtori ◽  
Ashutosh Paliwal

Human life is surrounded and dependent on its environment. Human civilization is nurtured by nature as it provides raw materials that are used in the manufacturing of various essential products like medicine, food items, etc. Not only developing countries but developed countries also depend on herbal-based medications. Cancer is a global health burden. Epithelial-mesenchymal-transition (EMT) plays a key role in cancer progression and is also stimulated by different extracellular signals and could be regulated at different levels. Conventional therapies exhibit a cytotoxic effect, which encourages the development of a new approach that could be used with synthetic drugs. Phytotherapy emerged as an effective weapon against cancer. Herbal drugs directly target different signaling pathways that promote EMT and eventually lead to cancer.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Divya Adiga ◽  
Raghu Radhakrishnan ◽  
Sanjiban Chakrabarty ◽  
Prashant Kumar ◽  
Shama Prasada Kabekkodu

Despite substantial advances in the field of cancer therapeutics, metastasis is a significant challenge for a favorable clinical outcome. Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a process of acquiring increased motility, invasiveness, and therapeutic resistance by cancer cells for their sustained growth and survival. A plethora of intrinsic mechanisms and extrinsic microenvironmental factors drive the process of cancer metastasis. Calcium (Ca<sup>2+</sup>) signaling plays a critical role in dictating the adaptive metastatic cell behavior comprising of cell migration, invasion, angiogenesis, and intravasation. By modulating EMT, Ca<sup>2+</sup> signaling can regulate the complexity and dynamics of events leading to metastasis. This review summarizes the role of Ca<sup>2+</sup> signal remodeling in the regulation of EMT and metastasis in cancer.


2022 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 800
Author(s):  
Monica Fedele ◽  
Riccardo Sgarra ◽  
Sabrina Battista ◽  
Laura Cerchia ◽  
Guidalberto Manfioletti

The transition between epithelial and mesenchymal phenotype is emerging as a key determinant of tumor cell invasion and metastasis. It is a plastic process in which epithelial cells first acquire the ability to invade the extracellular matrix and migrate into the bloodstream via transdifferentiation into mesenchymal cells, a phenomenon known as epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), and then reacquire the epithelial phenotype, the reverse process called mesenchymal–epithelial transition (MET), to colonize a new organ. During all metastatic stages, metabolic changes, which give cancer cells the ability to adapt to increased energy demand and to withstand a hostile new environment, are also important determinants of successful cancer progression. In this review, we describe the complex interaction between EMT and metabolism during tumor progression. First, we outline the main connections between the two processes, with particular emphasis on the role of cancer stem cells and LncRNAs. Then, we focus on some specific cancers, such as breast, lung, and thyroid cancer.


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 603-610 ◽  
Author(s):  
BO SUN ◽  
YANTIAN FANG ◽  
ZHENYANG LI ◽  
ZONGYOU CHEN ◽  
JIANBIN XIANG

2013 ◽  
Vol 54 (8) ◽  
pp. 547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hosny M. Behnsawy ◽  
Katsumi Shigemura ◽  
Fatma Y. Meligy ◽  
Fukashi Yamamichi ◽  
Masuo Yamashita ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Jihye Seo ◽  
Jain Ha ◽  
Eunjeong Kang ◽  
Sayeon Cho

AbstractThe complex orchestration of gene expression that mediates the transition of epithelial cells into mesenchymal cells is implicated in cancer development and metastasis. As the primary regulator of the process, epithelial-mesenchymal transition-regulating transcription factors (EMT-TFs) play key roles in metastasis. They are also highlighted in recent preclinical studies on resistance to cancer therapy. This review describes the role of three main EMT-TFs, including Snail, Twist1, and zinc-finger E homeobox-binding 1 (ZEB1), relating to drug resistance and current possible approaches for future challenges targeting EMT-TFs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (18) ◽  
pp. 4076
Author(s):  
Enke Baldini ◽  
Chiara Tuccilli ◽  
Daniele Pironi ◽  
Antonio Catania ◽  
Francesco Tartaglia ◽  
...  

The transcription factors involved in epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT-TFs) silence the genes expressed in epithelial cells (e.g., E-cadherin) while inducing those typical of mesenchymal cells (e.g., vimentin). The core set of EMT-TFs comprises Zeb1, Zeb2, Snail1, Snail2, and Twist1. To date, information concerning their expression profile and clinical utility during thyroid cancer (TC) progression is still incomplete. We evaluated the EMT-TF, E-cadherin, and vimentin mRNA levels in 95 papillary TC (PTC) and 12 anaplastic TC (ATC) tissues and correlated them with patients’ clinicopathological parameters. Afterwards, we corroborated our findings by analyzing the data provided by a case study of the TGCA network. Compared with normal tissues, the expression of E-cadherin was found reduced in PTC and more strongly in ATC, while the vimentin expression did not vary. Among the EMT-TFs analyzed, Twist1 seems to exert a prominent role in EMT, being significantly associated with a number of PTC high-risk clinicopathological features and upregulated in ATC. Nonetheless, in the multivariate analysis, none of the EMT-TFs displayed a prognostic value. These data suggest that TC progression is characterized by an incomplete EMT and that Twist1 may represent a valuable therapeutic target warranting further investigation for the treatment of more aggressive thyroid cancers.


Author(s):  
Naaziyah Abdulla ◽  
C. Theresa Vincent ◽  
Mandeep Kaur

Despite the significant advancements made in targeted anti-cancer therapy, drug resistance constitutes a multifaceted phenomenon leading to therapy failure and ultimately mortality. Emerging experimental evidence highlight a role of cholesterol metabolism in facilitating drug resistance in cancer. This review aims to describe the role of cholesterol in facilitating multi-drug resistance in cancer. We focus on specific signaling pathways that contribute to drug resistance and the link between these pathways and cholesterol. Additionally, we briefly discuss the molecular mechanisms related to the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and the documented link between EMT, metastasis and drug resistance. We illustrate this by specifically focusing on hypoxia and the role it plays in influencing cellular cholesterol content following EMT induction. Finally, we provide a proposed model delineating the crucial role of cholesterol in EMT and discuss whether targeting cholesterol could serve as a novel means of combatting drug resistance in cancer progression and metastasis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaobo Zheng ◽  
Fuzhen Dai ◽  
Lei Feng ◽  
Hong Zou ◽  
Li Feng ◽  
...  

The epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) is closely associated with the acquisition of aggressive traits by carcinoma cells and is considered responsible for metastasis, relapse, and chemoresistance. Molecular links between the EMT and cancer stem cells (CSCs) have indicated that EMT processes play important roles in the expression of CSC-like properties. It is generally thought that EMT-related transcription factors (EMT-TFs) need to be downregulated to confer an epithelial phenotype to mesenchymal cells and increase cell proliferation, thereby promoting metastasis formation. However, the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms that regulate EMT and CSC activation are contradictory. Emerging evidence suggests that EMT need not be a binary model and instead a hybrid epithelial/mesenchymal state. This dynamic process correlates with epithelial–mesenchymal plasticity, which indicates a contradictory role of EMT during cancer progression. Recent studies have linked the epithelial–mesenchymal plasticity and stem cell-like traits, providing new insights into the conflicting relationship between EMT and CSCs. In this review, we examine the current knowledge about the interplay between epithelial–mesenchymal plasticity and CSCs in cancer biology and evaluate the controversies and future perspectives. Understanding the biology of epithelial–mesenchymal plasticity and CSCs and their implications in therapeutic treatment may provide new opportunities for targeted intervention.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fei Su ◽  
Alexes C. Daquinag ◽  
Songyeon Ahn ◽  
Achinto Saha ◽  
Yulin Dai ◽  
...  

AbstractAggressiveness of carcinomas is linked with tumor recruitment of adipose stromal cells (ASC), which is increased in obesity. ASC promote cancer through molecular pathways not fully understood. Here, we demonstrate that epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) in prostate tumors is promoted by obesity and suppressed upon pharmacological ASC depletion in HiMyc mice, a spontaneous genetic model of prostate cancer. CXCL12 expression in tumors was associated with ASC recruitment and localized to stromal cells expressing platelet-derived growth factor receptors Pdgfra and Pdgfrb. The role of this chemokine secreted by stromal cells in cancer progression was further investigated by using tissue-specific knockout models. ASC deletion of CXCL12 gene in the Pdgfr + lineages suppressed tumor growth and EMT, indicating stroma as the key source of CXCL12. Clinical sample analysis revealed that CXCL12 expression by peritumoral adipose stroma is increased in obesity, and that the correlating increase in Pdgfr/CXCL12 expression in the tumor is linked with decreased survival of patients with prostate carcinoma. Our study establishes ASC as the source of CXCL12 driving tumor aggressiveness and outlines an approach to treatment of carcinoma progression.


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