Intercellular Communication in Cancer

Abstract

Junctional complexes play a central role in maintaining tissue hemostasis. The barrier function of epithelial cells, that maintain tissues coherence and coordination of cellular synchronicity, is a consequence of a junctional system that guards the paracellular pathways and defends organisms against their immediate environment. Gap junctions have the unique task of linking the cytoplasm of adjacent cells allowing for an exquisite control of cellular baseline functions and response to stimuli. The association and coordination of the different classes of junctions impart an important regulatory role that any aberration in its control mechanisms may lead to pathological outcomes. In this chapter, we devote a substantial section on Gap junctions and discuss their role in cancer. We contrast physiological functions with pathological settings with focus on inflammation and cancer. The elusive role of connexins as tumor suppressor genes is addressed and the spatiotemporal expression profiles is highlighted to underscore the fact. To further illustrate the role of connexins and gap junctions in cancer, we chose two prevalent cancers, one female-specific and one male specific cancer, that inflict a great number of patients worldwide. In addition, we discussed the topic of hematological malignancies, a field that requires much needed research, due to the potential importance of niche function and hematopoiesis in these liquid cancers.