Cellular communication plays a critical role in diverse aspects of tumorigenesis including tumor cell growth/death, adhesion/detachment, migration/invasion, angiogenesis, and metastasis. G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) which constitute the largest group of cell surface receptors are known to play fundamental roles in all these processes. When considering the importance of GPCRs in tumorigenesis, the adhesion GPCRs (aGPCRs) are unique due to their hybrid structural organization of a long extracellular cell-adhesive domain and a seven-transmembrane signaling domain. Indeed, aGPCRs have been increasingly shown to be associated with tumor development by participating in tumor cell interaction and signaling. ADGRG1/GPR56, a representative tumor-associated aGPCR, is recognized as a potential biomarker/prognostic factor of specific cancer types with both tumor-suppressive and tumor-promoting functions. We summarize herein the latest findings of the role of ADGRG1/GPR56 in tumor progression.
Keywords: GPR56; adhesion GPCR; ligand; signaling; tumorigenesis.