Martínez-Abarca Millán, A.; Martín-Bermudo, M.D. Integrins Can Act as Suppressors of Ras-Mediated Oncogenesis in the Drosophila Wing Disc Epithelium. Cancers2023, 15, 5432.
Martínez-Abarca Millán, A.; Martín-Bermudo, M.D. Integrins Can Act as Suppressors of Ras-Mediated Oncogenesis in the Drosophila Wing Disc Epithelium. Cancers 2023, 15, 5432.
Martínez-Abarca Millán, A.; Martín-Bermudo, M.D. Integrins Can Act as Suppressors of Ras-Mediated Oncogenesis in the Drosophila Wing Disc Epithelium. Cancers2023, 15, 5432.
Martínez-Abarca Millán, A.; Martín-Bermudo, M.D. Integrins Can Act as Suppressors of Ras-Mediated Oncogenesis in the Drosophila Wing Disc Epithelium. Cancers 2023, 15, 5432.
Abstract
Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Key to cancer initiation and progression is the crosstalk between cancer cells and their microenvironment. The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a major component of the tumour microenvironment and integrins, main cell-ECM adhesion receptors, are involved in every step of cancer progression. However, accumulating evidence has shown that integrins can act as tumour promoter but also as tumour suppressor factors, revealing that the biological roles of integrins in cancer are complex. This incites a better understating of integrin function in cancer progression. To achieve this goal, simple model organisms, such as Drosophila, offer a great potential to unravel underlying conceptual principles. Here, we find that in the Drosophila wing disc epithelium the PS integrins act as suppressors of tumours induced by a gain of function of the oncogenic form of Ras, RasV12. We show that PS integrin depletion enhances the growth, delamination and invasive behaviour of RasV12 tumour cells, as well as their ability to affect the tumour microenvironment. These results strongly suggest that integrin function as tumour suppressors might be evolutionary conserved. Drosophila can be used to understand the complex tumour modulating activities conferred by integrins, thus facilitating drug development.
Biology and Life Sciences, Cell and Developmental Biology
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