Recent Advances of the Wiskott-aldrich Syndrome Protein Family Members in Tumorigenesis and Progression

Abstract

The development of cancer is an evolving process, with proliferation, invasion and metastasis as basic biological features. As a new class of actin regulatory proteins, Wiskott-aldrich syndrome protein (WASP) family is a key component in maintaining the basic morphology of actin cytoskeleton that is involved in many essential processes including maintaining basic structure of cells, and cell motility and signaling. It also mediates the proliferation, invasion and metastasis of cancer cells. We reviewed latest advances in the role of WASP family in cancer formation and progression, its expression levels in different cancers and related signaling pathways, suggesting that relevant research is highly promising, and reflecting the importance of WASP family in mechanisms of carcinogenesis, cancer treatment and prognosis prediction.

Keywords

• wasp family|wiskott-aldrich syndrome protein family|neoplasms|invasion|neoplasm metastasis|review