Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Biol Chem. Feb 26, 2016; 7(1): 64-77
Published online Feb 26, 2016. doi: 10.4331/wjbc.v7.i1.64
Dynamic interplay between adhesion surfaces in carcinomas: Cell-cell and cell-matrix crosstalk
Yvonne E Smith, Sri HariKrishna Vellanki, Ann M Hopkins
Yvonne E Smith, Sri HariKrishna Vellanki, Ann M Hopkins, Department of Surgery, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, RCSI Education and Research Centre, Smurfit Building, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin 9, Ireland
Author contributions: Smith YE contributed to designing the aims of the review, contributed to writing the manuscript and generated the figure; Vellanki SH contributed to writing the manuscript; Hopkins AM designed the aims of the review, contributed to writing the manuscript and reviewed the manuscript.
Supported by Past and present funding in the senior author’s laboratory as follows - Health Research Board of Ireland (HRA-POR-2014-545; HRA/2009/49; RP/2006/95, to Hopkins AM); Science Foundation Ireland (13/IA/1994; 2008/RFP/NSC1427; 2008/RFP/NSC1427 TIDA Feasibility 10, to Hopkins AM); Cancer Research Ireland, Breast Cancer Ireland; Brazil Science Without Borders (CAPES-13306-13-8) and the Beaumont Hospital Cancer Research and Development Trust.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict 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: Ann M Hopkins, PhD, Department of Surgery, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, RCSI Education and Research Centre, Smurfit Building, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin 9, Ireland. annhopkins@rcsi.ie
Telephone: +353-1-8093858 Fax: +353-1-6335082
Received: June 9, 2015
Peer-review started: June 11, 2015
First decision: August 25, 2015
Revised: September 22, 2015
Accepted: November 3, 2015
Article in press: November 4, 2015
Published online: February 26, 2016
Core Tip

Core tip: Deregulation of cell-cell and cell-matrix signaling makes well-established contributions to key elements of cancer initiation and progression. In this review we discuss mechanisms of crosstalk between these spatially-distinct adhesion sites in epithelial cells, with a view to understanding their therapeutic targeting in epithelial tumors (carcinomas). A particular focus is placed upon Rho GTPases and tyrosine kinases as mediators of inter-junctional crosstalk, in addition to the concept of opportunistic pathogenic infection as a paradigm for inter-junctional crosstalk. Overall, this review posits that a greater understanding of cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion crosstalk will drive novel aspects of cancer drug discovery.