EN
N-cadherin is an adhesion protein, which is
important for intercellular interaction. It is involved in cell
migration and motility during embryonic development,
neuronal synapsis and cancer metastasis. There are several
signaling cascades affected by N-cadherin including TGF-β,
Rho family. N-cadherin is associated at the cytoplasmic
domain with catenins (α, β, γ and p120) to facilitate
metastasis. An increase in N-cadherin with down regulation
of E-cadherin occurs during epithelial mesenchymal
transition. Overexpression of N-cadherin is associated with
cell cycle arrest, which correlates with a similar property
of cancer stem cells (CSC). Connexin expression, which is
important in CSC dormancy, is regulated by N-cadherin.
This review discusses the potential of N-cadherin to be
involved in maintaining CSCs, and to investigate pathways
in N-cadherin expression. A better understanding of the
role of N-Cadherin in CSC biology may identify new targets
for the treatment of cancer.