α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in lung cancer

Lung cancer has one of the highest mortality rates among malignancies globally, and smoking has been documented as the main cause of lung cancer. Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) were initially identified as notable regulators of the nervous system. In addition to their function in the brain, accumulating evidence indicates that nAChRs perform a host of diverse functions in almost all non-neuronal mammalian cells. The homomeric α7nAChR, a subtype of nAChRs, is responsible for the proliferative, pro-angiogenic and pro-metastatic effects of nicotine in lung cancer. Provided the association of cigarette smoking with several disease types such as cardiovascular disease, the α7nAChR-mediated signaling pathway has been implicated in the pathophysiology of lung cancer. Currently, strategies that target the α7nAChR including α7nAChR antagonists are considered to be potentially useful anticancer drugs for therapeutic purposes. Thus, the present review assesses current understanding of the function and underlying molecular mechanisms of α7nAChR in lung cancer and evaluates how targeting α7nAChR may result in novel therapeutic methods.