Abstract
Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. New early tumor markers are needed to treat the disease at curable stages. In addition, new therapeutic targets are required to treat patients not responding to available treatments. Ion channels play major roles in health and disease, including cancer. Actually, several ion channels have been suggested as potential tumor markers and therapeutic targets for different types of malignancies. One of most studied ion channels in cancer is the voltage-gated potassium channel Eag1 (ether à go-go 1), which has a high potential to be used as a cancer biomarker. Eag1 is expressed in most human tumors, in contrast to its restricted distribution in healthy tissues. Several findings suggest Eag1 as a potential early marker for cervical, colon, and breast cancer. In addition, because Eag1 amplification/expression is associated with poor survival in leukemia, colon and ovarian cancer patients, it has also been proposed as a prognosis marker. Moreover, inhibition of either expression or activity of Eag1 leads to reduced proliferation of cancer cells, making Eag1 a potential anticancer target. Using Eag1 in cancer detection programs could help to reduce mortality from this disease.
Highlights
Ion channels are membrane proteins allowing the passage of ions
Eag1 channel amplitude was reduced when oocyte maturation was induced by either progesterone or mitosis promoting factor (MPF) [29]
Despite the hundreds of clinical trials that are currently being conducted for cancer patients, most new anticancer drugs fail to pass Phase I studies
Summary
Ion channels are membrane proteins allowing the passage of ions These proteins play major roles in human physiology including neural transmission, heart rate, muscle contraction, insulin secretion, immune function, and cell proliferation. Voltage-gated potassium channels have been associated with several disorders and represent very interesting targets for many diseases including cancer [2]. Among these channels, Ether à go-go-1 (Eag1) has gained great interest in cancer because of its restricted distribution in normal tissues, its role in tumor cell proliferation, its regulation by cancer etiological factors, and its association with poor survival. One of the most attractive features of Eag channels is their oncogenic properties, which has raised many investigations in cancer research and led to the proposal that these channels are cancer markers
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