Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jan 7, 2016; 22(1): 379-393
Published online Jan 7, 2016. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i1.379
Proteoglycans in liver cancer
Kornélia Baghy, Péter Tátrai, Eszter Regős, Ilona Kovalszky
Kornélia Baghy, Péter Tátrai, Eszter Regős, Ilona Kovalszky, First Department of Pathology and Experimental Cancer Research, Semmelweis University, H1085 Budapest, Hungary
Author contributions: Baghy K, Tátrai P, Regős E and Kovalszky I contributed equally to the research work, survey of literature, and design and writing of the manuscript.
Supported by Hungarian Research Fund (OTKA) (No. 100904 to Kovalszky I; and No. 105763 to Baghy K).
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Ilona Kovalszky, MD, PhD, DSc, First Department of Pathology and Experimental Cancer Research, Semmelweis University, 26 Üllői Street, H1085 Budapest, Hungary. koval@korb1.sote.hu
Telephone: +36-1-4591500 Fax: +36-1-3171074
Received: May 27, 2015
Peer-review started: May 31, 2015
First decision: July 14, 2015
Revised: September 14, 2015
Accepted: November 9, 2015
Article in press: November 9, 2015
Published online: January 7, 2016
Core Tip

Core tip: Proteoglycans are molecules that contain at least one glycosaminoglycan chain and are primarily found on the cell surface and in the extracellular matrix, where they serve as structural components. In addition, their glycosaminoglycan chains interact with numerous regulatory molecules, thus potentially influencing a myriad of cellular processes, including those linked with cancer development. For example, they can support or inhibit signaling of growth factors, cytokines, and hormones. This article reviews current data demonstrating the versatile role of proteoglycans in the development, maintenance, and progression of liver cancer.