{"id":1117,"date":"2016-05-09T10:44:10","date_gmt":"2016-05-09T10:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.caltagmedsystems.co.uk\/information\/?p=1117"},"modified":"2016-07-20T14:42:26","modified_gmt":"2016-07-20T14:42:26","slug":"the-fas-and-the-furious-2-the-importance-of-fas-in-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.caltagmedsystems.co.uk\/information\/the-fas-and-the-furious-2-the-importance-of-fas-in-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fas and the Furious 2: The Importance of Fas in Cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Given the prominent role of Fas in many important cell functions (Read: 7 Facts to Catch You Up to Speed on Fas<\/a>). \u00a0Fas has been implicated in a variety of disease states such as cancer. Here are some major findings from recent research about the role of Fas in cancer:<\/p>\n

Role of Fas in Cancer<\/h4>\n

Mutations in the genes that encode for Fas have been found to increase the risk of developing many types of cancer such as breast, gastric and esophageal(1)<\/sup>. However, high levels of Fas expression in cancer cells have been found to be a positive prognostic marker for cancer patients, indicating higher survival rates(2)<\/sup>. It has been found that immune cells called CD8+ cytotoxic lymphocytes can kill cancer cells by binding to Fas with Fas ligand(3)<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Resistance Mechanisms<\/h4>\n

However, cancer cells have developed many resistance mechanisms to these immune cells:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Cancer cells can lower the expression of Fas on the cell surface. Cancer cells can alter the levels of Fas transporters FAP-1 and dynamin which lowers the level of Fas transport to the cell surface. Lower levels of Fas on the cancer cell surface decrease the ability of CD8+ cytotoxic lymphocytes to bind and kill cancer cells(1)<\/sup>.<\/li>\n
  2. Many cancer cells can develop resistance by increasing the expression of a protein on its cell surface called cFLIP. cFLIP interferes with apoptosis by blocking the Fas receptor from activating caspases. Without caspase activation, Fas cannot induce apoptosis(3)<\/sup>.<\/li>\n
  3. Recent research has suggested that cancer cells can \u201ccounterattack\u201d and induce apoptosis in T cells by expressing Fas ligand. However, the existence of this method of resistance is debated(3)<\/sup>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Therapeutic Targeting of Fas<\/h4>\n

    Given their prominent role in cancer, drugs targeting Fas has been explored as a potential treatment for cancer(5)<\/sup>. One possible type of treatment is an antibody targeting Fas. However, major side effects of using a Fas antibody to target Fas have been found to be lethal in mice. This lethality was caused by the Fas antibody targeting healthy cells in the liver causing severe damage(5(<\/sup>. Other treatments that do not directly target Fas are being explored such as IAP antagonists. IAP inhibits effector caspases which are necessary for Fas-induced apoptosis to occur(5)<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

    Given the importance of Fas in cancer, research in Fas is a very hot topic. MBL International offers a variety of products to help further your research of Fas including many Anti-Fas antibodies:<\/p>\n