CD44: a cancer stem cell marker and therapeutic target in leukemia treatment

Shuang Wu; Yicheng Tan; Fanfan Li; Yixiang Han; Shenghui Zhang; Xiaofei Lin

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2024.1354992

CD44: a cancer stem cell marker and therapeutic target in leukemia treatment

Front Immunol. 2024 Apr 26:15:1354992. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1354992. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Shuang Wu^{1

2}, Yicheng Tan^{1

2

3}, Fanfan Li^{2

3

4}, Yixiang Han^{2

3

5}, Shenghui Zhang^{1

2

3

4}, Xiaofei Lin⁴

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory Animal Center, the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.
² Institute of Hematology, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.
³ Wenzhou Key laboratory of Hematology, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.
⁴ Department of Hematology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.
⁵ Central Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.

Abstract

CD44 is a ubiquitous leukocyte adhesion molecule involved in cell-cell interaction, cell adhesion, migration, homing and differentiation. CD44 can mediate the interaction between leukemic stem cells and the surrounding extracellular matrix, thereby inducing a cascade of signaling pathways to regulate their various behaviors. In this review, we focus on the impact of CD44s/CD44v as biomarkers in leukemia development and discuss the current research and prospects for CD44-related interventions in clinical application.

Keywords: CD44; adhesion; biomarkers; clinical application; differentiation; homing; leukemia; migration.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Biomarkers, Tumor* / metabolism
Humans
Hyaluronan Receptors* / metabolism
Leukemia* / immunology
Leukemia* / metabolism
Leukemia* / therapy
Molecular Targeted Therapy
Neoplastic Stem Cells* / immunology
Neoplastic Stem Cells* / metabolism
Signal Transduction

Substances

Hyaluronan Receptors
Biomarkers, Tumor
CD44 protein, human

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82072354), and Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. LTGD24C040008.