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Review
. 2017 Nov;8(11-12):746-751.
doi: 10.18632/genesandcancer.162.

ERBB signaling in CTCs of ovarian cancer and glioblastoma

Anjali Geethadevi  1 , Deepak Parashar  1 , Erin Bishop  1 , Sunila Pradeep  1 , Pradeep Chaluvally-Raghavan  1   2
Affiliations
Review

ERBB signaling in CTCs of ovarian cancer and glioblastoma

Anjali Geethadevi et al. Genes Cancer. 2017 Nov.

Abstract

Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) are floating cell populations, which are resistant to anoikis after detachment from the primary sites and travel through the circulatory and lymphatic systems to disseminate throughout the body. CTCs are considered as seed cells for metastasis, and thus isolation of CTCs does not require any invasive procedure. Based on the nature and location of ovarian cancer and glioblastoma, the role of CTCs and hematogenous (carried by blood) spreading of tumor cells in these cancers were not understood well. Dysregulation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR/ERBB) family members due to their overexpression and/or mutation have been known to contribute to the etiology and progression of ovarian cancer and glioblastoma. However, the role of ERBB receptors on CTC formation of ovarian cancer and glioblastoma is not well established. This report highlights the role of ERBB family receptors on resistance to anoikis and CTC formation in ovarian cancer and glioblastoma. Recent research on CTCs demonstrates that capturing ERBB receptor positive cells from circulating system is an efficient approach to isolate CTCs for genomic and proteomic characterization of tumor cells. Therefore, ERBB-targeted isolation of CTCs would help to design therapy to treat cancer, determine drug responses and drug-resistant mechanisms in cancer patients.

Keywords: ERBB receptors; circulating tumor cells; glioblastoma; ovarian cancer.

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Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST Authors confirm that they have no conflict of interest in this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. ERBB signaling in circulating tumor cells
A. Schema representing the migration of circulating tumor cells into the bloodstream. B. An illustration showing ERBB signaling pathway in circulating tumor cells. ERBB receptors undergo homo or hetero dimerization, then subsequent trans or auto phosphorylation after binding to the respective ligands like epidermal growth factor (EGF), transforming growth factor - alpha (TGF-α) or neuregulin (NRG1) as indicated. ERBB2 binds no ligand with high affinity, and ERBB3 homodimers are catalytically inactive due to the lack of kinase domains. Once phosphorylated and activated, receptors initiate recruitment and binding of adaptor proteins via SH2 domains, thereby activating downstream-signaling pathways that lead to the activation of various transcription factors required for survival and resistance to apoptosis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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