Figure 1.

Hallmarks of P-cadherin function in breast cancer cells. P-cadherin overexpressing cells acquire features that give them an advantage to survive in a hostile environment leading to an invasive and tumorigenic phenotype of breast cancer cells. P-cadherin expression affects cell–cell adhesion, since it disrupts the normal suppressor function of E-cadherin, by decreasing the interaction between E-cadherin and intracellular catenins. Overexpression of this protein in breast cancer cells promotes an increase in cell migration and cell invasion, being able to provoke the secretion of pro-invasive factors, such as MMP1 and MMP2, which then lead to P-cadherin ectodomain cleavage (sP-cad) that also has pro-invasive activity by itself. Moreover, P-cadherin expression mediates cancer stem cell properties, conferring resistance to x-ray-induced cell death and being related with a hypoxic, glycolytic, and acid-resistant phenotype in breast cancer cells.