Cancers, Vol. 16, Pages 1569: CD44: A New Prognostic Marker in Colorectal Cancer?

Cancers, Vol. 16, Pages 1569: CD44: A New Prognostic Marker in Colorectal Cancer? Cancers doi: 10.3390/cancers16081569 Authors: Pina Ziranu Andrea Pretta Valentina Aimola Flaviana Cau Stefano Mariani Alessandra Pia D’Agata Claudia Codipietro Daiana Rizzo Veronica Dell’Utri Giorgia Sanna Giusy Moledda Andrea Cadoni Eleonora Lai Marco Puzzoni Valeria Pusceddu Massimo Castagnola Mario Scartozzi Gavino Faa Cluster of differentiation 44 (CD44) is a non-kinase cell surface glycoprotein. It is overexpressed in several cell types, including cancer stem cells (CSCs). Cells overexpressing CD44 exhibit several CSC traits, such as self-renewal, epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) capability, and resistance to chemo- and radiotherapy. The role of CD44 in maintaining stemness and the CSC function in tumor progression is accomplished by binding to its main ligand, hyaluronan (HA). The HA-CD44 complex activates several signaling pathways that lead to cell proliferation, adhesion, migration, and invasion. The CD44 gene regularly undergoes alternative splicing, resulting in the standard (CD44s) and variant (CD44v) isoforms. The different functional roles of CD44s and specific CD44v isoforms still need to be fully understood. The clinicopathological impact of CD44 and its isoforms in promoting tumorigenesis suggests that CD44 could be a molecular target for cancer therapy. Furthermore, the recent association observed between CD44 a...
Source: Cancers - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Review Source Type: research