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Current View on EpCAM Structural Biology
EpCAM, a carcinoma cell-surface marker protein and a therapeutic target, has been primarily addressed as a cell adhesion molecule. With regard to recent discoveries of its role in signaling with implications in cell proliferation and differentiation, and findings contradicting a direct role in media...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2020
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7349879/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32486423 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cells9061361 |
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author | Gaber, Aljaž Lenarčič, Brigita Pavšič, Miha |
author_facet | Gaber, Aljaž Lenarčič, Brigita Pavšič, Miha |
author_sort | Gaber, Aljaž |
collection | PubMed |
description | EpCAM, a carcinoma cell-surface marker protein and a therapeutic target, has been primarily addressed as a cell adhesion molecule. With regard to recent discoveries of its role in signaling with implications in cell proliferation and differentiation, and findings contradicting a direct role in mediating adhesion contacts, we provide a comprehensive and updated overview on the available structural data on EpCAM and interpret it in the light of recent reports on its function. First, we describe the structure of extracellular part of EpCAM, both as a subunit and part of a cis-dimer which, according to several experimental observations, represents a biologically relevant oligomeric state. Next, we provide a thorough evaluation of reports on EpCAM as a homophilic cell adhesion molecule with a structure-based explanation why direct EpCAM participation in cell–cell contacts is highly unlikely. Finally, we review the signaling aspect of EpCAM with focus on accessibility of signaling-associated cleavage sites. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-7349879 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2020 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-73498792020-07-15 Current View on EpCAM Structural Biology Gaber, Aljaž Lenarčič, Brigita Pavšič, Miha Cells Review EpCAM, a carcinoma cell-surface marker protein and a therapeutic target, has been primarily addressed as a cell adhesion molecule. With regard to recent discoveries of its role in signaling with implications in cell proliferation and differentiation, and findings contradicting a direct role in mediating adhesion contacts, we provide a comprehensive and updated overview on the available structural data on EpCAM and interpret it in the light of recent reports on its function. First, we describe the structure of extracellular part of EpCAM, both as a subunit and part of a cis-dimer which, according to several experimental observations, represents a biologically relevant oligomeric state. Next, we provide a thorough evaluation of reports on EpCAM as a homophilic cell adhesion molecule with a structure-based explanation why direct EpCAM participation in cell–cell contacts is highly unlikely. Finally, we review the signaling aspect of EpCAM with focus on accessibility of signaling-associated cleavage sites. MDPI 2020-05-31 /pmc/articles/PMC7349879/ /pubmed/32486423 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cells9061361 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Review Gaber, Aljaž Lenarčič, Brigita Pavšič, Miha Current View on EpCAM Structural Biology |
title | Current View on EpCAM Structural Biology |
title_full | Current View on EpCAM Structural Biology |
title_fullStr | Current View on EpCAM Structural Biology |
title_full_unstemmed | Current View on EpCAM Structural Biology |
title_short | Current View on EpCAM Structural Biology |
title_sort | current view on epcam structural biology |
topic | Review |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7349879/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32486423 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cells9061361 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT gaberaljaz currentviewonepcamstructuralbiology AT lenarcicbrigita currentviewonepcamstructuralbiology AT pavsicmiha currentviewonepcamstructuralbiology |