leads to
Snail protein expression 
E-cadherin & Tight Junctions
| Hedgehog Pathway Cancer and Metastasis |
| Increase Hh Pathway Activation |
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Snail protein expression |
E-cadherin & Tight Junctions
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MetastasisThe majority of mortality associated with cancer is due to the metastasis of the original tumor cells to sites distant from the initial or primary tumor. Metastasis is the process by which cancer cells migrate throughout the body.
http://www.cancerquest.org/index.cfm?page=408
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E-cadherin stretches across the cell membrane and acts as a sort of molecular “glue” that binds neighboring cells together. About 95 percent of human cancers arise from epithelial cell types that rely on E-cadherin adhesion to maintain their orderly structure. Without this E-cadherin glue, cancer cells are able to metastasize. “Our view is that when a cell metastasizes, something is probably wrong with the cadherin system,” Reynolds said. “When E-cadherin is lost or inactivated, that represents the turning point for metastasis.” Researchers have discovered that E-cadherin is more than just glue holding cells together. (http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/reporter/index.html?ID=1254) Snail, a transcriptional repressor of E-cadherin expression, is involved in epithelial-mesenchymal transitions during development. tight junction proteins, including claudin-1, occludin and ZO-1. |
Ref Snail induction is an early response to Gli1 that determines the efficiency of epithelial transformationHedgehog signalling in prostate regeneration, neoplasia and metastasis. Blockade of hedgehog signaling inhibits pancreatic cancer invasion and metastases: a new paradigm for combination therapy in solid cancers.
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