The role of death-associated protein 3 in apoptosis, anoikis and human cancer

Umar Wazir; Mona Maw Orakzai; Zubair S Khanzada; Wen G Jiang; Anup K Sharma; Abdul Kasem; Kefah Mokbel

doi:10.1186/s12935-015-0187-z

The role of death-associated protein 3 in apoptosis, anoikis and human cancer

Cancer Cell Int. 2015 Apr 10:15:39. doi: 10.1186/s12935-015-0187-z. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Umar Wazir¹, Mona Maw Orakzai², Zubair S Khanzada³, Wen G Jiang³, Anup K Sharma⁴, Abdul Kasem⁵, Kefah Mokbel¹

Affiliations

¹ The London Breast Institute, Princess Grace Hospital, London, UK ; Department of Breast Surgery, St. George's Hospital and Medical School, University of London, London, UK.
² Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad, Pakistan.
³ Metastasis and Angiogenesis Research Group, University Department of Surgery, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales UK.
⁴ Department of Breast Surgery, St. George's Hospital and Medical School, University of London, London, UK.
⁵ The London Breast Institute, Princess Grace Hospital, London, UK.

Abstract

Death-associated protein 3 (DAP3) is a molecule with a significant role in the control of both apoptosis and anoikis. Apoptosis is the predominant type of programmed cell death (PCD) which may occur in response to irreparable damage to DNA, or in response to induction by inflammatory cells. Anoikis is subset of apoptosis which occurs in epithelial cells in response to detachment from the surrounding matrix. Both apoptosis and anoikis are of interest in the context of carcinogenesis. In this review, we shall discuss apoptosis and anoikis, and the recent literature regarding the role of DAP3 in both these pathways.

Keywords: Anoikis; Apoptosis; Breast cancer; Cancer; Carcinogenesis; Death-associated protein 3; Oncogenesis; Review.