2. Academic Validation
  3. ALCAM/CD166: A pleiotropic mediator of cell adhesion, stemness and cancer progression

ALCAM/CD166: A pleiotropic mediator of cell adhesion, stemness and cancer progression

  • Cytokine Growth Factor Rev. 2021 Oct:61:27-37. doi: 10.1016/j.cytogfr.2021.07.001.
Fátima Ferragut 1,  Vanina S Vachetta 1,  María F Troncoso 1,  Gabriel A Rabinovich 2,  María T Elola 3
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica, Departamento de Química Biológica, Buenos Aires, Argentina; CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Química y Fisicoquímica Biológicas (IQUIFIB) Prof. Alejandro C. Paladini, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
  • 2 Laboratorio de Inmunopatología, Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental (IBYME-CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina; Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
  • 3 Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica, Departamento de Química Biológica, Buenos Aires, Argentina; CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Química y Fisicoquímica Biológicas (IQUIFIB) Prof. Alejandro C. Paladini, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Electronic address: mt_elola@yahoo.com.
PMID: 34272152 DOI: 10.1016/j.cytogfr.2021.07.001
Abstract

Activated Leukocyte Cell Adhesion Molecule (ALCAM/CD166) is a glycoprotein involved in homotypic and heterotypic cell adhesion. ALCAM can be proteolytically cleaved at the cell surface by metalloproteases, which generate shedding of its ectodomain. In various tumors, ALCAM is overexpressed and serves as a valuable prognostic marker of disease progression. Moreover, CD166 has been identified as a putative Cancer stem cell marker in particular cancers. Herein, we summarize biochemical aspects of ALCAM, including structure, proteolytic shedding, alternative splicing, and specific ligands, and integrate this information with biological functions of this glycoprotein including cell adhesion, migration and invasion. In addition, we discuss different patterns of ALCAM expression in distinct tumor types and its contribution to tumor progression. Finally, we highlight the role of ALCAM as a Cancer stem cell marker and introduce current clinical trials associated with this molecule. Future studies are needed to define the value of shed ALCAM in biofluids or ALCAM isoform expression as prognostic biomarkers in tumor progression.

Keywords

ALCAM/CD166; Cancer stem cell marker; Shedding; Structure; Tumor progression.

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