Regulation and Functions of α6-Integrin (CD49f) in Cancer Biology

• Published in: Cancers Vol. 15; no. 13; p. 3466
• Main Authors: Khademi, Rahele, Malekzadeh, Hossein, Bahrami, Sara, Saki, Najmaldin, Khademi, Reyhane, Villa-Diaz, Luis G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01-07-2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Angiogenesis; Apoptosis; Biomarkers; Bone marrow; Breast cancer; Cancer; Cell adhesion; Cell adhesion molecules; Cell cycle; Cell differentiation; Cell growth; Cell proliferation; Cell surface; Colorectal cancer; Development and progression; Drug resistance; Epithelium; Genetic aspects; Health aspects; Integrins; Kinases; Ligands; Liver cancer; Malignancy; Mechanical stimuli; Metastases; Metastasis; MicroRNAs; Morphology; Multiple myeloma; Organotropism; Ovarian cancer; Post-transcription; Proteins; Review; Signal transduction; Stem cells; Therapeutic applications; Therapeutic targets; Transcription factors; Tumors; Iran; Canada; hematological malignancies; epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT); molecular mechanisms; metastasis; diagnosis biomarker; stemness; ITGA6; integrin; resistance; CD49f; target therapy
• ISSN: 2072-6694; 2072-6694
• DOI: 10.3390/cancers15133466

Over the past decades, our knowledge of integrins has evolved from being understood as simple cell surface adhesion molecules to receptors that have a complex range of intracellular and extracellular functions, such as delivering chemical and mechanical signals to cells. Consequently, they actively control cellular proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Dysregulation of integrin signaling is a major factor in the development and progression of many tumors. Many reviews have covered the broader integrin family in molecular and cellular studies and its roles in diseases. Nevertheless, further understanding of the mechanisms specific to an individual subunit of different heterodimers is more useful. Thus, we describe the current understanding of and exploratory investigations on the α6-integrin subunit (CD49f, VLA6; encoded by the gene
) in normal and cancer cells. The roles of ITGA6 in cell adhesion, stemness, metastasis, angiogenesis, and drug resistance, and as a diagnosis biomarker, are discussed. The role of ITGA6 differs based on several features, such as cell background, cancer type, and post-transcriptional alterations. In addition, exosomal ITGA6 also implies metastatic organotropism. The importance of ITGA6 in the progression of a number of cancers, including hematological malignancies, suggests its potential usage as a novel prognostic or diagnostic marker and useful therapeutic target for better clinical outcomes.