Fascin-1 in Cancer Cell Metastasis: Old Target-New Insights

Eleonora Sarantelli, Apostolis Mourkakis, Lefteris C. Zacharia, Andreas Stylianou, Vasiliki Gkretsi

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

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.

Original languageEnglish
Article number11253
JournalInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences
Volume24
Issue number14
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2023

Keywords

  • actin cytoskeleton
  • invadopodia
  • invasion
  • mechanobiology
  • migration

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