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Cell extrusion in development and cancer, what MARCKS the difference for epithelial integrity?

by LUCÍA VELOZ^1,2, SANTIAGO A. BOSCH^1,3, GONZALO APARICIO^1,2,*, FLAVIO R. ZOLESSI^1,2,*

1 Sección Biología Celular, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, CP 11400, Uruguay
2 Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Montevideo, CP 11400, Uruguay
3 Sección Biofísica y Biología de Sistemas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, CP 11400, Uruguay

* Corresponding Authors:GONZALO APARICIO. Email: ; FLAVIO R. ZOLESSI. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Tumor Microenvironment and Cytoskeletal Dynamics)

BIOCELL 2022, 46(3), 639-644. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2022.018798

Received 18 August 2021; Accepted 24 September 2021; Issue published 18 November 2021

Abstract

Cell extrusion is an active mechanism to eliminate non-viable or supernumerary cells in healthy epithelia. It also plays a role in carcinogenesis, both in tumor growth (apical extrusion) and metastasis (basal extrusion). Embryonic tissues like the neuroepithelium, on the other hand, present rates of proliferation comparable to that of carcinomas, without the occurrence of cell extrusion. However, the downregulation or phosphorylation of actin-modulating proteins like MARCKS, causes extensive neuroepithelial apical cell extrusion. As changes in MARCKS proteins phosphorylation and expression have also been correlated to carcinogenesis, we propose here an integrated model for their functions in epithelial integrity.

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