Proteoglycans and Colorectal Cancer: A review Study

Introduction: Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying colorectal cancer (CRC) is a crucial point in finding novel biomarkers and treatment strategies. PGs have important roles in gastrointestinal tract cancers including CRC. The expression pattern of some PGs is deregulated in CRC. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of PGs deregulation in CRC progression. Method: This mini review gathered from research and review studies published in valid databases including PubMed, Science Direct, Medline, Google scholar and Scopus using the following keywords: proteoglycan, colorectal cancer, tumorigenesis and signaling pathways. Result: Proteoglycans have a dual role in colon cancer. Expression of oncogene and tumor suppressor PGs change in CRC and their related functions or signaling pathways involved in CRC have been shown in different research studies. It has been demonstrated that shed Syndecan-1, Syndecan-2, CD44, Testican, Betaglycan and Biglycan are overexpressed in CRC and have oncogenic role by activation of EGFR, FAK/ERK, Wnt, PI3K/Akt, MAP and ERK signaling pathways respectively. Lumican and Versican upregulation involved in adenoma-to-carcinoma progression. However some proteoglycans such as Decorin is downregulated in CRC and plays tumor suppressor role by stabilization of E-cadherin. Conversely, sundecan-2 promotes E-cadherin shedding by the protease MMP-7. Contradictory to shed form of syndecan-1, the transmembrane form is downregulated and involved in inflammation-driven colon tumorigenesis. Agrin is upregulated in serum of CRC patients, however, its function is not yet identified.Conclusion: One of the most common cancers in the digestive tract is CRC. Investigation of molecular pathways in colon tumorigenesis revealed proteoglycans as important mediators in cancer cell signal transduction pathways. Expression of PGs changes in gastric cancer and can be used as potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in CRC.

کلیدواژه ها:

Proteoglycan ، Colorectal Cancer ، Tumorigenesis ، Signalling pathways