A tumor suppressor DLC1: The functions and signal pathways

Yang Zhang1, Guorong Li1

  • 1Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resistant, School of Life Sciences, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, China.

Insights

Deleted in liver cancer-1 (DLC1) suppresses tumors by regulating cell signaling. Downregulation of DLC1 promotes cancer progression, but natural products may restore its expression to inhibit cancer growth.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Biochemistry

Background:

  • Deleted in liver cancer-1 (DLC1) is a tumor suppressor gene.
  • DLC1 functions as a GTPase-activating protein for Rho family proteins.
  • Reduced DLC1 expression is observed in many human cancers, correlating with tumor proliferation and metastasis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the characteristics of DLC1 and its family members.
  • To delineate signaling pathways regulated by DLC1 in cancer.
  • To explore clinical data and natural product-mediated upregulation of DLC1 for cancer inhibition.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of DLC1 family characteristics.
  • Analysis of signaling pathways involving DLC1.
  • Examination of clinical data and natural product interactions with DLC1.

Main Results:

  • DLC1 regulates critical cancer cell processes including growth, colony formation, apoptosis, senescence, autophagy, migration, and invasion.
  • Clinical data indicates the significance of DLC1 in various cancers.
  • Natural products show potential in upregulating DLC1 expression to inhibit cancer.

Conclusions:

  • DLC1 plays a crucial role in suppressing cancer through diverse cellular mechanisms.
  • Further research is needed to fully elucidate the mechanisms of DLC1-mediated cancer suppression.

Related Concept Videos

Interactions Between Signaling Pathways01:19

Interactions Between Signaling Pathways

Signaling cascades usually lack linearity. Multiple pathways interact and regulate one another, allowing cells to integrate and respond to diverse environmental stimuli.
Convergence and divergence, and cross-talk between signaling pathways
Two distinct signaling pathways can converge on a single functional unit, which may either be a single protein or a complex of proteins. The response is either functionally distinct or synergistic between the two pathways but different from the response...
7.1K
Abnormal Proliferation02:23

Abnormal Proliferation

Under normal conditions, most adult cells remain in a non-proliferative state unless stimulated by internal or external factors to replace lost cells. Abnormal cell proliferation is a condition in which the cell's growth exceeds and is uncoordinated with normal cells. In such situations, cell division persists in the same excessive manner even after cessation of the stimuli, leading to persistent tumors. The tumor arises from the damaged cells that replicate to pass the damage to the...
5.0K
Loss of Tumor Suppressor Gene Functions01:12

Loss of Tumor Suppressor Gene Functions

Tumor suppressor genes are normal genes that can slow down cell division, repair DNA mistakes, or program the cells for apoptosis in case of irreparable damage. Hence, they play an essential role in preventing the proliferation of damaged cells.
When the tumor suppressor genes develop mutations or are lost, cells start growing out of control, leading to cancer. However, a single functional copy of the tumor suppressor gene is enough for the cells to maintain their normal functions and cell...
5.8K
Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathway02:54

Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathway

The gene encoding the main signaling molecules of the Wnt signaling pathways (the Wnt proteins) was discovered almost four decades ago by Nüsslein-Volhard and Wieschaus. They identified and originally named the gene "wingless" (wg) after a phenotype discovered during their landmark genetic screen in Drosophila for body pattern defects. At around the same time, another researcher named Harold Varmus found that a murine tumor virus activates the mammalian wg homolog, Int-1, which...
10.3K
Cancer-Critical Genes II: Tumor Suppressor Genes01:05

Cancer-Critical Genes II: Tumor Suppressor Genes

Genes usually encode proteins necessary for the proper functioning of a healthy cell. Mutations can often cause changes to the gene expression pattern, thereby altering the phenotype.
When the function of certain critical genes, especially those involved in cell cycle regulation and cell growth signaling cascades, gets disrupted, it upsets the cell cycle progression. Such cells with unchecked cell cycles start proliferating uncontrollably and eventually develop into tumors.
Such genes that act...
9.3K
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression03:03

mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression

The mammalian target of rapamycin or mTOR protein was discovered in 1994 due to its direct interaction with rapamycin. The protein gets its name from a yeast homolog called TOR. The mTOR protein complex in mammalian cells plays a major role in balancing anabolic processes such as the synthesis of proteins, lipids, and nucleotides and catabolic processes, such as autophagy in response to environmental cues, such as availability of nutrients and growth factors.
The mTOR pathway or the...
4.5K