IMR Press / FBL / Volume 16 / Issue 4 / DOI: 10.2741/3803

Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark (FBL) is published by IMR Press from Volume 26 Issue 5 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.

Article
The FERM family proteins in cancer invasion and metastasis
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1 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing, PR China
2 Metastasis & Angiogenesis Research Group, Department of Surgery, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, CF14 4XN, UK
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2011, 16(4), 1536–1550; https://doi.org/10.2741/3803
Published: 1 January 2011
Abstract

Metastasis is the major cause of death in patients with cancer. Metastatic cancer cells undergo dramatic molecular and cellular changes by remodeling their cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion and their actin cytoskeleton, molecular processes that involve the activity of various signaling networks. The FERM family proteins can link transmembrane proteins to the cytoskeleton or link kinase and/or phosphatase enzymatic activity to the plasma membrane. They thus are involved not only in cell-extracellular matrix interactions and cell-cell communication but also in apoptosis, carcinogenesis and metastasis. This review will summarize the role and mechanism of FERM proteins, with particular reference to the ERM and Ehm2 proteins in cancer metastasis.

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