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Updated: May 2, 2026

Characterization of Cell Membrane Extensions and Studying Their Roles in Cancer Cell Adhesion Dynamics
Published on: March 26, 2018
Rewiring cell polarity signaling in cancer
11] Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Research Centre, Department of Oncology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada [2] Division of Experimental Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Abstract:
Disrupted cell polarity is a feature of epithelial cancers. The Crumbs, Par and Scribble polarity complexes function to specify and maintain apical and basolateral membrane domains, which are essential to organize intracellular signaling pathways that maintain epithelial homeostasis. Disruption of apical-basal polarity proteins facilitates rewiring of oncogene and tumor suppressor signaling pathways to deregulate proliferation, apoptosis, invasion and metastasis. Moreover, apical-basal polarity integrates intracellular signaling with the microenvironment by regulating metabolic signaling, extracellular matrix remodeling and tissue level organization. In this review, we discuss recent advances in our understanding of how polarity proteins regulate diverse signaling pathways throughout cancer progression from initiation to metastasis.
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