The Role of N-cadherin and Its Prospect as a Target for Tumor Therapy

LI Xiongfeng¹, CHENG Haidong¹, SHAREN Gaowa², FAN Huilian³, HOU Mingxing¹*

(¹Gastroenterology Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot 010000, China; ²College of Basic Medicine, Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot 010110, China; ³Department of Medicine, Inner Mongolia International Mongolian Medical Hospital, Hohhot 010011, China)

Abstract:

N-cadherin, also known as neuro-cadherin, belongs to the cadherin family, which mainly exists in human nerve tissues, lenses, striated muscles, and myocardium. N-cadherin has an important role in normal physiologic functions, such as embryonic development, synaptic function, vascular stability, and intraosseous homeostasis, through transient and permanent expression. When the expression of N-cadherin is abnormal, N-cadherin affects tumor invasion and metastases in many ways. Based on extensive research involving N-cadherin in recent years, the potential of N-cadherin as a target for tumor therapy has become increasingly apparent. This article reviews the structure and function of N-cadherin, the role of N-cadherin in physiology and pathology, and the use of N-cadherin as a target for tumor therapy.

CSTR: 32200.14.cjcb.2023.02.0016