Endoglin in the Spotlight to Treat Cancer

A spotlight has been shone on endoglin in recent years due to that fact of its potential to serve as both a reliable disease biomarker and a therapeutic target. Indeed, endoglin has now been assigned many roles in both physiological and pathological processes. From a molecular point of view, endogli...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of molecular sciences 2021-03, Vol.22 (6), p.3186
Main Authors: González Muñoz, Teresa, Amaral, Ana Teresa, Puerto-Camacho, Pilar, Peinado, Héctor, de Álava, Enrique
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
biomarker
Biomarkers, Tumor
Cell Communication
endoglin
Endoglin - antagonists & inhibitors
Endoglin - genetics
Endoglin - metabolism
Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic - drug effects
Humans
Liquid Biopsy
microenvironment
Molecular Targeted Therapy
Neoplasms - diagnosis
Neoplasms - drug therapy
Neoplasms - etiology
Neoplasms - metabolism
Neovascularization, Pathologic - drug therapy
Neovascularization, Pathologic - genetics
Neovascularization, Pathologic - metabolism
Review
Signal Transduction - drug effects
targeted therapy
tumor
Tumor Microenvironment - drug effects
Tumor Microenvironment - genetics
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Summary:A spotlight has been shone on endoglin in recent years due to that fact of its potential to serve as both a reliable disease biomarker and a therapeutic target. Indeed, endoglin has now been assigned many roles in both physiological and pathological processes. From a molecular point of view, endoglin mainly acts as a co-receptor in the canonical TGFβ pathway, but also it may be shed and released from the membrane, giving rise to the soluble form, which also plays important roles in cell signaling. In cancer, in particular, endoglin may contribute to either an oncogenic or a non-oncogenic phenotype depending on the cell context. The fact that endoglin is expressed by neoplastic and non-neoplastic cells within the tumor microenvironment suggests new possibilities for targeted therapies. Here, we aimed to review and discuss the many roles played by endoglin in different tumor types, as well as the strong evidence provided by pre-clinical and clinical studies that supports the therapeutic targeting of endoglin as a novel clinical strategy.
ISSN:1422-0067
1661-6596
1422-0067
DOI:10.3390/ijms22063186