title: Cas proteins: dodgy scaffolding in breast cancer.
abstract: The members of the Cas protein family (p130Cas/BCAR1, Nedd9/HEF1, EFS and CASS4) are scaffold proteins required for the assembly of signal transduction complexes in response to several stimuli, such as growth factors, hormones and extracellular matrix components. Given their ability to integrate and coordinate multiple signalling events, Cas proteins have emerged as crucial players in the control of mammary cell proliferation, survival and differentiation. More importantly, it has been found that alterations of their expression levels result in aberrant signalling cascades, which promote initiation and progression of breast cancer. Based on the increasing data from in vitro, mouse model and clinical studies, in this review we will focus on two Cas proteins, p130Cas/BCAR1 and Nedd9, and their coupled signalling pathways, to examine their role in mammary cell transformation and in the acquirement of invasiveness and drug resistance of breast cancer cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, University of Torino, Torino 10126, Italy; European Cancer Stem Cell Research Institute and Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, UK.
authors.forename: Giusy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tornillo
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Defilippi
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cabodi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000378:metabolism; D050719:Crk-Associated Substrate Protein / Q000502:physiology*; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D042361:Mammary Glands, Human / Q000473:pathology; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D050719:Crk-Associated Substrate Protein