KIF2C: An important factor involved in signaling pathways, immune infiltration, and DNA damage repair in tumorigenesis

Poorly regulated mitosis and chromosomal instability are common characteristics in malignant tumor cells. Kinesin family member 2 C (KIF2C), also known as mitotic centromere-associated kinesin (MCAK) is an essential component during mitotic regulation. In recent years, KIF2C was shown to be dysregulated in several tumors and was involved in many aspects of tumor self-regulation. Research on KIF2C may be a new direction and target for anti-tumor therapy. The article aims at reviewing current literatures and summarizing the research status of KIF2C in malignant tumors as well as the oncogenic signaling pathways associated with KIF2C and its role in immune infiltration. In this review, we summarize the KIF2C mechanisms and signaling pathways in different malignant tumors, and briefly describe its involvement in pathways related to classical chemotherapeutic drug resistance, such as MEK/ERK, mTOR, Wnt/β-catenin, P53 and TGF-β1/Smad pathways. KIF2C upregulation was shown to promote tumor cell migration, invasion, chemotherapy resistance and inhibit DNA damage repair. It was also highly correlated with microRNAs, and CD4 +T cell and CD8 +T cell tumor immune infiltration. This review shows that KIF2C may function as a new anticancer drug target with great potential for malignant tumor treatment and the mitigation of chemotherapy resistance.