TY - JOUR
T1 - Fascin-1 in Cancer Cell Metastasis
T2 - Old Target-New Insights
AU - Sarantelli, Eleonora
AU - Mourkakis, Apostolis
AU - Zacharia, Lefteris C.
AU - Stylianou, Andreas
AU - Gkretsi, Vasiliki
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.
PY - 2023/7
Y1 - 2023/7
N2 - As metastasis is responsible for most cancer-related deaths, understanding the cellular and molecular events that lead to cancer cell migration and invasion will certainly provide insights into novel anti-metastatic therapeutic targets. Fascin-1 is an actin-bundling protein fundamental to all physiological or pathological processes that require cell migration. It is responsible for cross-linking actin microfilaments during the formation of actin-rich cellular structures at the leading edge of migrating cells such as filopodia, lamellipodia and invadopodia. While most epithelial tissues express low levels of Fascin-1, it is dramatically elevated in the majority of cancers and its expression has been associated with more aggressive disease and decreased overall survival. Hence, it has been proposed as a potential anti-cancer target. In the present review, we studied recent literature with regard to Fascin-1 expression in different cancers, its role in altering the mechanical properties of cancer cells, promoting cancer cell migration, invasion and metastasis and the effect of its inhibition, via various pharmacological inhibitors, in eliminating metastasis in vitro and/or in vivo. Recent studies corroborate the notion that Fascin-1 is critically involved in metastasis and prove that it is a valuable anti-metastatic target that is worth investigating further.
AB - As metastasis is responsible for most cancer-related deaths, understanding the cellular and molecular events that lead to cancer cell migration and invasion will certainly provide insights into novel anti-metastatic therapeutic targets. Fascin-1 is an actin-bundling protein fundamental to all physiological or pathological processes that require cell migration. It is responsible for cross-linking actin microfilaments during the formation of actin-rich cellular structures at the leading edge of migrating cells such as filopodia, lamellipodia and invadopodia. While most epithelial tissues express low levels of Fascin-1, it is dramatically elevated in the majority of cancers and its expression has been associated with more aggressive disease and decreased overall survival. Hence, it has been proposed as a potential anti-cancer target. In the present review, we studied recent literature with regard to Fascin-1 expression in different cancers, its role in altering the mechanical properties of cancer cells, promoting cancer cell migration, invasion and metastasis and the effect of its inhibition, via various pharmacological inhibitors, in eliminating metastasis in vitro and/or in vivo. Recent studies corroborate the notion that Fascin-1 is critically involved in metastasis and prove that it is a valuable anti-metastatic target that is worth investigating further.
KW - actin cytoskeleton
KW - invadopodia
KW - invasion
KW - mechanobiology
KW - migration
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85166009699&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ijms241411253
DO - 10.3390/ijms241411253
M3 - Review article
C2 - 37511011
AN - SCOPUS:85166009699
SN - 1661-6596
VL - 24
JO - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
JF - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
IS - 14
M1 - 11253
ER -