title: Transglutaminase is a tumor cell and cancer stem cell survival factor.
abstract: Recent studies indicate that cancer cells express elevated levels of type II transglutaminase (TG2), and that expression is further highly enriched in cancer stem cells derived from these cancers. Moreover, elevated TG2 expression is associated with enhanced cancer stem cell marker expression, survival signaling, proliferation, migration, invasion, integrin-mediated adhesion, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and drug resistance. TG2 expression is also associated with formation of aggressive and metastatic tumors that are resistant to conventional therapeutic intervention. This review summarizes the role of TG2 as a cancer cell survival factor in a range of tumor types, and as a target for preventive and therapeutic intervention. The literature supports the idea that TG2, in the closed/GTP-binding/signaling conformation, drives cancer cell and cancer stem cell survival, and that TG2, in the open/crosslinking conformation, is associated with cell death.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.|Department of Dermatology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.|Department of Reproductive Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.|The Greenebaum Cancer Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Richard L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Eckert
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Matthew L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Grun
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Gautam
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Adhikary
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.|The Greenebaum Cancer Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: Candace
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kerr
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000502:physiology*; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D000091345:Protein Glutamine gamma Glutamyltransferase 2; D019089:Stem Cell Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D011503:Transglutaminases / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D019089:Stem Cell Factor; D000091345:Protein Glutamine gamma Glutamyltransferase 2; D011503:Transglutaminases; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins
keywords: EMT; breast cancer; cancer stem cells; drug resistance; epidermal cancer stem cells; epithelial-mesenchymal transition; glioma; ovarian cancer; pancreatic cancer; prostate cancer; squamous cell carcinoma; transglutaminase