Calpains and cancer: Friends or enemies?

• Published in: Archives of biochemistry and biophysics Vol. 564; pp. 26 - 36
• Main Authors: Moretti, Daniele, Del Bello, Barbara, Allavena, Giulia, Maellaro, Emilia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 15-12-2014
• Subjects: Animals; Anticancer therapy; Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use; Apoptosis; Autophagy; Calpain; Calpain - antagonists & inhibitors; Calpain - biosynthesis; Calpain - genetics; Cancer; Cell migration; Cell Proliferation; Cysteine Proteinase Inhibitors - therapeutic use; Enzyme Activation; Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Humans; Neoplasm Invasiveness; Neoplasm Proteins - antagonists & inhibitors; Neoplasm Proteins - biosynthesis; Neoplasm Proteins - genetics; Neoplasms - drug therapy; Neoplasms - enzymology; Neoplasms - genetics; Neoplasms - pathology; Calpain; Anticancer therapy; Autophagy; Cell migration; Cancer; Apoptosis
• ISSN: 0003-9861; 1096-0384
• DOI: 10.1016/j.abb.2014.09.018

•Calpains proteolyze many substrates, degrading them or modulating their function.•Human calpains comprise ubiquitous and tissue-specific isoforms.•Calpains are involved in several mechanisms crucial for tumor progression.•Calpains have an aberrant expression in human cancers and tumor cell lines.•Several anticancer drugs activate calpains which influence response to therapy.
Calpains are a complex family of ubiquitous or tissue-specific cysteine proteases that proteolyze a variety of substrates (leading to their degradation or functional modulation) and are implicated in several pathophysiological phenomena. In tumor cell biology, calpains are implicated in a triple way: they are involved in different processes crucial for tumor progression, including cell proliferation, apoptotic cell death, survival mechanisms, migration and invasiveness; they have aberrant expression in several human cancers; a variety of anticancer drugs induce cytotoxicity through activation of calpains or the latter can influence response to therapy. This review covers established and recent literature showing these diverse aspects in tumor cells.