Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
10929754 Current Opinion in Cell Biology 2005 10 Pages PDF
Abstract
Recent studies show that cadherins and catenins are hormonally regulated and carry out physiological roles during mammary development but have pathological effects when deregulated. E-cadherin expression is irreversibly lost in invasive lobular breast cancer (ILC). Animal models of ILC provide mechanistic insight, confirming that E-cadherin serves as both a tumor suppressor and an invasion suppressor in ILC. Ductal breast cancer involves complex, reversible, epigenetic modulation of multiple cadherins. Transcriptional regulators of E-cadherin have been identified that induce epithelial-to-mesenchymal transitions. Catenins are lost or mislocalized in tumors lacking cadherins. However, β-catenin signaling is upregulated by numerous pathways in >50% of breast tumors and animal models suggest its oncogenic function in breast relates to its role in mammary progenitor cell expansion.
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Life Sciences Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology Cell Biology
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