Zhu Y, Cheung ALM. Proteoglycans and their functions in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. World J Clin Oncol 2021; 12(7): 507-521 [PMID: 34367925 DOI: 10.5306/wjco.v12.i7.507]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Annie Lai Man Cheung, BSc, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Laboratory Block, No. 21 Sassoon Road, Hong Kong, China. lmcheung@hku.hk
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
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/
World J Clin Oncol. Jul 24, 2021; 12(7): 507-521 Published online Jul 24, 2021. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v12.i7.507
Proteoglycans and their functions in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
Yun Zhu, Annie Lai Man Cheung
Yun Zhu, Annie Lai Man Cheung, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Author contributions: Zhu Y and Cheung ALM contributed to the writing, literature review, and/or critical revision of the manuscript; Zhu Y is specially credited with design and preparation of the figures.
Supported byResearch Grants Council of the Hong Kong SAR, China, No. 17111016 and No. 17100819.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors report no conflict of interest and no financial disclosures.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (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/
Corresponding author: Annie Lai Man Cheung, BSc, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Laboratory Block, No. 21 Sassoon Road, Hong Kong, China. lmcheung@hku.hk
Received: February 5, 2021 Peer-review started: February 5, 2021 First decision: March 31, 2021 Revised: April 13, 2021 Accepted: June 2, 2021 Article in press: June 2, 2021 Published online: July 24, 2021
Abstract
Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a highly malignant disease that has a poor prognosis. Its high lethality is mainly due to the lack of symptoms at early stages, which culminates in diagnosis at a late stage when the tumor has already metastasized. Unfortunately, the common cancer biomarkers have low sensitivity and specificity in esophageal cancer. Therefore, a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying ESCC progression is needed to identify novel diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets for intervention. The invasion of cancer cells into the surrounding tissue is a crucial step for metastasis. During metastasis, tumor cells can interact with extracellular components and secrete proteolytic enzymes to remodel the surrounding tumor microenvironment. Proteoglycans are one of the major components of extracellular matrix. They are involved in multiple processes of cancer cell invasion and metastasis by interacting with soluble bioactive molecules, surrounding matrix, cell surface receptors, and enzymes. Apart from having diverse functions in tumor cells and their surrounding microenvironment, proteoglycans also have diagnostic and prognostic significance in cancer patients. However, the functional significance and underlying mechanisms of proteoglycans in ESCC are not well understood. This review summarizes the proteoglycans that have been studied in ESCC in order to provide a comprehensive view of the role of proteoglycans in the progression of this cancer type. A long term goal would be to exploit these molecules to provide new strategies for therapeutic intervention.
Core Tip: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a highly malignant human cancer because of its early metastasis and late diagnosis. Cancer metastasis involves multiple steps that involve cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions in the tumor microenvironment. Proteoglycans are one of the components of the extracellular matrix that play an important role in cell-matrix interactions. We herein summarize the proteoglycans that have been studied in ESCC to provide a comprehensive view of the role of proteoglycans in ESCC.
