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Current Drug Targets

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 1389-4501
ISSN (Online): 1873-5592

Defining the Role of Integrin αvβ6 in Cancer

Author(s): A. Bandyopadhyay and S. Raghavan

Volume 10, Issue 7, 2009

Page: [645 - 652] Pages: 8

DOI: 10.2174/138945009788680374

Price: $65

Abstract

Integrins are a large family of heterodimeric transmembrane receptors that mediate cell-substratum adhesion. αvβ6 is an epithelial-specific integrin that is a receptor for the extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins fibronectin, vitronectin, tenascin and the latency associated peptide (LAP) of TGF-β. Integrin αvβ6 is not expressed in healthy adult epithelia but is upregulated during wound healing and in cancer. αvβ6 has been shown to modulate invasion, inhibit apoptosis, regulate the expression of matrix metalloproteases (MMPs) and activate TGF-β1. There is increasing evidence, primarily from in vitro studies, that suggest that αvβ6 may actually promote carcinoma progression. In this review we summarize what has been learnt in the past few years about the role of αvβ6 in cancer progression.

Keywords: Integrin αvβ6, cancer, MMPs, TGF-β1, EMT


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