Overview
- In the context of the battle against cancer, the Degradome is important in three principal areas:
- Cellular proteases and their inhibitors are components of the molecular machinery of malignancy, and thus are attractive as therapeutic targets. Importantly, we now appreciate that some proteases perform functions that antagonize tumour growth, and these are then anti-targets that must be avoided
- Degradome genes are valuable as prognostic and diagnostic markers of disease that can improve the accuracy of conventional clinical and histopathological assessment
- Cellular proteases are target molecules for improving tumour detection and imaging
Buy print copy
About this book
Proteases that act in the extracellular environment have been historically associated with tumorigenesis and metastasis by virtue of their ability to carry out "path-clearing" for cancer cells. In the past few years it has become clear that they also shape the pericellular signaling environment, with profound consequences for cell fate and phenotype in both normal development and disease states. The repertoire of proteases that cells and tissues coordinately regulate in order to modulate their local environment is the DEGRADOME – which in humans is represented by at least 569 proteases in five catalytic classes. "The Cancer Degradome: Proteases in Cancer Biology" , edited by Dylan Edwards, Francesco Blasi, Gunilla-Høyer-Hansen and Bonnie Sloane, covers recent knowledge of the composition of the Degradome, how it can be studied using modern approaches such as transcriptomics and mass spectrometry; how protease activity can be imaged both in vitro and in vivo; how gene knockout mice have improved our knowledge of the roles of proteases in cancer; the links that have emerged between proteolysis and cell signaling; how the Degradome can be a useful source of diagnostic and prognostic markers; and finally new approaches to target proteolysis for therapy.
Similar content being viewed by others
Keywords
Table of contents (41 chapters)
-
The Degradome and Its Analysis
-
Insights into Protease Function
Editors and Affiliations
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The Cancer Degradome
Book Subtitle: Proteases and Cancer Biology
Editors: Dylan Edwards, Gunilla Høyer-Hansen, Francesco Blasi, Bonnie F. Sloane
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-69057-5
Publisher: Springer New York, NY
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life Sciences, Biomedical and Life Sciences (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer-Verlag New York 2008
Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-387-69056-8Published: 19 September 2008
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-4939-3886-5Published: 23 August 2016
eBook ISBN: 978-0-387-69057-5Published: 16 September 2008
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXIII, 926
Topics: Cancer Research, Human Genetics, Medical Microbiology, Immunology, Virology, Molecular Medicine