Tumor

IRE1 resides in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) as a transmembrane protein with both serine-threonine kinase and endoribonuclease activities. It acts as an unfolded protein response (UPR) sensor through XBP1 transcriptional activation and has been found to have many physiological functions due to the fundamental importance of protein folding.

Lysyl oxidase, also known as LOX, is a copper-dependent enzyme that cross-links collagen and elastin through the oxidative deamination of peptidyl lysine (collagen and elastin) and hydroxylysine (collagen only) residues, thereby playing a critical role in maintaining the structural integrity of the extracellular matrix (1).

CD34 is a cell surface glycoprotein that aids cells in cell-cell adhesion. It is expressed on endothelial cells where it is known to bind L-selectin and may aid in migration of T-cells.

Desmoglein 3 (DSG3) is a member of the desmoglein (DSG) subfamily. Dsg3 mainly serves as an adhesion component within intercellular desmosome junctions. It is part of the core complex comprising the most prominent cell-cell junctions - the desmosome. Together with the protein desmocollin (DSC), DSG is a key transmembrane adhesion protein that interacts with cadherins of the opposing cell. Homophilic (DSG3-DSG3) as well as heterophilic (DSC3-DSG1) interactions have been documented both in vitro and in vivo.

An AP (apurinic/apyrimidinic) site, also known as an abasic site, is a region of DNA that is lacking a purine or pyrimidine base. This can occur spontaneously, or as a result of DNA damage. When DNA damage occurs, DNA repair pathways are activated.

Synaptonemal Complex Protein 1 (SCP1) is a novel tumor antigen that belongs to the growing family of cancer/testis antigens (CTAs). CTAs are theoretically ideal targets for tumor immunotherapy. Unlike most auto-antigens, CTAs are highly immunogenic, even in the autologous cancer-bearing patients. Furthermore, because of their very restricted normal tissue expression, immunotherapy targeting CTAs is expected to be more specific and less toxic.

E-cadherin (also known as Arc-1, uvomorulin, and cell-CAM 120/80) is a calcium-regulated adhesion molecule expressed in most normal epithelial tissues and the loss of E-cadherin can cause dedifferentiation and invasiveness in several cancers (1). Loss of E-Cadherin expression correlated with the invasiveness of carcinoma (2).

Ku70, known by several synonyms including X-ray repair cross-complementing, 5'-deoxyribose-5-phosphate lyase Ku70 protein 6, 70 kDa subunit of Ku antigen, XRCC6, and G22P1, is a 70 kDa protein that was shown to be involved in multiple cellular pathways, mainly involving DNA repair and recombination (2).

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play an essential role in the activation of innate immunity, and TLRs are expressed in a large number of immune cells as well as in epithelial cells. TLR9 recognizes synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides (ODN) containing unmethylated deoxycytidyl-deoxyguanosine (CpG) motifs and mimics the immunostimulatory activity of bacterial DNA.

The Myosin superfamily is a large and diverse protein family, and its members are grouped into many classes, are involved in a number of cellular pathways (1). Myosins contain actin- and ATP-binding sites in their conserved catalytic head domain and localize to a number of intracellular compartments and participate in many trafficking and anchoring events.