Cancer Cell International (Sep 2021)

High temperature requirement A1 in cancer: biomarker and therapeutic target

  • Mingming Chen,
  • Shilei Yang,
  • Yu Wu,
  • Zirui Zhao,
  • Xiaohan Zhai,
  • Deshi Dong

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12935-021-02203-4
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 21, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

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Abstract As the life expectancy of the population increases worldwide, cancer is becoming a substantial public health problem. Considering its recurrence and mortality rates, most cancer cases are difficult to cure. In recent decades, a large number of studies have been carried out on different cancer types; unfortunately, tumor incidence and mortality have not been effectively improved. At present, early diagnostic biomarkers and accurate therapeutic strategies for cancer are lacking. High temperature requirement A1 (HtrA1) is a trypsin-fold serine protease that is also a chymotrypsin-like protease family member originally discovered in bacteria and later discovered in mammalian systems. HtrA1 gene expression is decreased in diverse cancers, and it may play a role as a tumor suppressor for promoting the death of tumor cells. This work aimed to examine the role of HtrA1 as a cell type-specific diagnostic biomarker or as an internal and external regulatory factor of diverse cancers. The findings of this study will facilitate the development of HtrA1 as a therapeutic target.

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