title: Ephs and ephrins in cancer: ephrin-A1 signalling.
abstract: Ephrin-A1 and its primary receptor, EphA2, are involved in numerous physiological processes and have been intensely studied for their roles in malignancy. Ephrin-Eph signalling is complex on its own and is also cell-type dependent, making elucidation of the exact role of ephrin-A1 in neoplasia challenging. Multiple oncogenic signalling pathways, such as MAP/ERK and PI3K are affected by ephrin-A1, and in some cases evidence suggests the promotion of a specific pathway in one cell or cancer type and inhibition of the same pathway in another type of cell or cancer. Ephrin-A1 also plays an integral role in angiogenesis and tumor neovascularization. Until recently, studies investigating ephrins focused on the ligands as GPI-anchored proteins that required membrane anchoring or artificial clustering for Eph receptor activation. However, recent studies have demonstrated a functional role for soluble, monomeric ephrin-A1. This review will focus on various forms of ephrin-A1-specific signalling in human malignancy.
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, Brain Tumor Center of Excellence, Comprehensive Cancer Center of Wake Forest University, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA. abeaucha@wakehealth.edu
authors: Amanda
authors: A
authors: Beauchamp
authors: Waldemar
authors: W
authors: Debinski
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002468:Cell Physiological Phenomena; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D036382:Ephrin-A1 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000378:metabolism; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D036104:Receptor, EphA2 / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D020741:rho GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D036382:Ephrin-A1; D036104:Receptor, EphA2; D020741:rho GTP-Binding Proteins