AGR2: a secreted protein worthy of attention in diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer

Ke Zhang; Yuan Li; Xiangyi Kong; Chuqi Lei; Huaiyu Yang; Nianchang Wang; Zhongzhao Wang; Hu Chang; Lixue Xuan

doi:10.3389/fonc.2023.1195885

AGR2: a secreted protein worthy of attention in diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer

Front Oncol. 2023 May 1:13:1195885. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1195885. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Ke Zhang¹, Yuan Li¹, Xiangyi Kong¹, Chuqi Lei¹, Huaiyu Yang¹, Nianchang Wang², Zhongzhao Wang¹, Hu Chang³, Lixue Xuan¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Breast Surgical Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
² Department of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
³ Administration Office, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.

Abstract

AGR2 is a secreted protein widely existing in breast. In precancerous lesions, primary tumors and metastatic tumors, the expression of AGR2 is increased, which has aroused our interest. This review introduces the gene and protein structure of AGR2. Its endoplasmic reticulum retention sequence, protein disulfide isomerase active site and multiple protein binding sequences endow AGR2 with diverse functions inside and outside breast cancer cells. This review also enumerates the role of AGR2 in the progress and prognosis of breast cancer, and emphasizes that AGR2 can be a promising biomarker and a target for immunotherapy of breast cancer, providing new ideas for early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.

Keywords: AGR2; breast cancer; protein disulfide isomerase; protein secretion; protein-protein interaction.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Clinical and Translational Medicine Research Fund Project (No. 2019XK320067), the Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82103047), the CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences (CIFMS) (No. 2022-I2M-C&T-B-087), the Non-profit Central Research Institute Fund of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (No. 2022-JKCS-04), the Beijing Association for Science and Technology’s “Golden-Bridge Seed Funding Program” (No. ZZ22027), the Beijing Hope Run Special Fund of Cancer Foundation of China (No. LC2020L01), the Beijing Hope Run Special Fund of Cancer Foundation of China (No. LC2019L07), the Beijing Hope Run Special Fund of Cancer Foundation of China (No. LC2022A19), the Chinese Young Breast Experts Research project (No. CYBER-2021-005), the XianSheng Clinical Research Special Fund of China International Medical Foundation (No. Z-2014-06-2103), the Beijing Xisike Clinical Oncology Research Foundation (No. Y-Young2021-0017), and the Beijing Xisike Clinical Oncology Research Foundation (No. Y-NESTLE2022QN-0018).