Sorcin a Potential Molecular Target for Cancer Therapy

Sorcin (Soluble resistance related calcium binding protein) is a small soluble penta EF family (PEF) of calcium (Ca2+) binding protein (22,000 Da). It has been reported to play crucial roles in the regulation of calcium homeostasis, apoptosis, vesicle trafficking, cancer development, and multidrug resistance (MDR). Overexpression of sorcin has been reported to be associated with different cancers such as breast cancer, colorectal cancer, gastric cancer, leukemia, lung cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, ovarian cancer, etc. Essentially, expression of sorcin has been found to be elevated in cancer cells as compared to normal cells, indicating that it has prominent role in cancer. Moreover, sorcin was found to be the regulator of various proteins that has an association with carcinogenesis including NF-κB, STAT3, Akt, ERK1/2, VEGF, MMPs, caspases, etc. Sorcin was also found to regulate apoptosis, as silencing of the same resulted in increased levels of proapoptotic genes and induced mitochondrial apoptotic pathway in cancer. Interestingly, mutations in the sorcin gene have been closely linked with poor overall survival in bladder cancer, brain lower-grade glioma, glioblastoma, glioblastoma multiforme, kidney renal clear cell carcinoma, and stomach adenocarcinoma. Additionally, overexpression of sorcin was also found to induce MDR against different chemotherapeutic drugs. All these findings mark the importance of sorcin in cancer development and MDR. Therefore, there is urgent need to explore the functional mechanism of sorcin and to analyze whether silencing of sorcin would able to chemosensitize MDR cells. The current review summarizes the structure, expression, and functions of sorcin and its importance in the regulation of various malignancies and MDR

Novel tumor necrosis factor-a induced protein eight (TNFAIP8/TIPE) family: Functions and downstream targets involved in cancer progression

The tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a- induced protein 8 (TNFAIP8/TIPE) family is a death effector domain (DED)-containing protein family with four identified members: TNFAIP8 (TIPE), TNFAIP8L1 (TIPE1), TNFAIP8L2 (TIPE2), and TNFAIP8L3 (TIPE3). These proteins were found to play crucial roles in the regulation of immune homeostasis, inflammation, and cancer development. Intensive research in the past two decades revealed a strong correlation of TIPE proteins with the development of various cancers including cancers of the bladder, blood, bone, breast, cervix, colon, esophagus, endometrium, stomach, liver, lung, ovary, pancreas, prostate, and thyroid gland. Also, deregulation of these proteins was found to promote the essential hallmarks of cancer such as survival, tumor growth, proliferation, inhibition of apoptosis, angiogenesis, invasion, migration, and metastasis. Further, differential expression of these proteins in normal and cancer tissues and their association with tumor progression and prognosis signifies the potential diagnostic and prognostic values of TIPE proteins and their importance in cancer therapy. The current review summarizes the literature available thus far on the expression, function, and role of TIPE proteins in the development and maintenance of various cancers