Connexins, gap junctions and tissue invasion.
Formation of metastases negatively impacts the survival prognosis of cancer patients. Globally, if the various steps involved in their formation are relatively well identified, the molecular mechanisms responsible for the emergence of invasive cancer cells are still incompletely resolved. Elucidating what are the mechanisms that allow cancer cells to evade from the tumor is a crucial point since it is the first step of the metastatic potential of a solid tumor. In order to be invasive, cancer cells have to undergo transformations such as down-regulation of cell-cell adhesions, modification of cell-matrix adhesions and acquisition of proteolytic properties. These transformations are accompanied by the capacity to "activate" stromal cells, which may favor the motility of the invasive cells through the extracellular matrix. Since modulation of gap junctional intercellular communication is known to be involved in cancer, we were interested to consider whether these different transformations necessary for the acquisition of invasive phenotype are related with gap junctions and their structural proteins, the connexins. In this review, emerging roles of connexins and gap junctions in the process of tissue invasion are proposed.
Team IP2C, STIM laboratory, University of Poitiers, CNRS ERL 7368, 1 rue Georges Bonnet, B36, 86073 Poitiers Cedex9, France. Electronic address: norah.defamie@univ-poitiers.fr.
Norah
N
Defamie
Team IP2C, STIM laboratory, University of Poitiers, CNRS ERL 7368, 1 rue Georges Bonnet, B36, 86073 Poitiers Cedex9, France. Electronic address: amandine.chepied@univ-poitiers.fr.
Amandine
A
Chepied
Team IP2C, STIM laboratory, University of Poitiers, CNRS ERL 7368, 1 rue Georges Bonnet, B36, 86073 Poitiers Cedex9, France. Electronic address: marc.mesnil@univ-poitiers.fr.
Marc
M
Mesnil
D000818:Animals; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D017630:Connexins / Q000378:metabolism*; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition; D017629:Gap Junctions / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D059748:Proteolysis
D017630:Connexins
Connexin; Gap junction; Invasion and tumor cell; Migration