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Review
Semaphorin Signals on the Road to Cancer Invasion and Metastasis
Sabrina Rizzolio and Luca Tamagnone
volume 1 | issue 2
April/May/June 2007Pages: 62 - 68
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Semaphorins are a large family of secreted and membrane-bound molecules initially implicated in the development of the nervous system and in axon guidance. More recently, they have been found to regulate cell adhesion and cell motility, angiogenesis, immune function and tumour progression. Notably, Semaphorins have been implicated with opposite functions in cancer: either as putative tumor suppressors and anti-angiogenic factors, or as mediating tumour angiogenesis, invasion and metastasis. Interestingly, Semaphorins may display divergent activities in different cell types. These multifaceted functions may be explained by the involvement of different kinds of semaphorin receptor complexes, and by the consequent activation of multiple signaling pathways, in different cells or different functional stages. Semaphorin signaling is largely mediated by the Plexins. However, semaphorin receptor complexes may also include Neuropilins and tyrosine kinases implicated in cancer. In this review, we will focus on major open questions concerning the potential role of Semaphorin signals in cancer.
Authors
Sabrina Rizzolio
Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (IRCC); Division of Molecular Oncology; University of Torino Medical School; Candiolo, Italy
Luca Tamagnone
Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (IRCC); Division of Molecular Oncology; University of Torino Medical School; Candiolo, Italy.
We now provide open access to journal articles published online for one year or more. This article may be downloaded at the following link:
Download PDF If the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.