Regulation of Anoikis

Normal epithelial and endothelial cells require attachment to extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins to grow or survive. In these anchorage -dependent cells, loss of interaction with the ECM proteins triggers apoptosis which is termed anoikis. Anoikis undoubtedly plays an essential role in the development and organization of normal tissues through its inhibitory effect on unfavorable cellular proliferation at inappropriate locations. In this regard, anoikis contributes to the maintenance of the physiological state. Importantly, disturbance of anoikis may allow cell proliferation at inappropriate sites and thus may be tightly linked to cancer development. Indeed, we have found that suppression of anoikis promotes peritoneal dissemination or metastasis of several carcinoma cells. These data imply that clarification of the molecular mechanism which regulates anoikis will, in turn, greatly help the regulation of cancer progression. Here we summarize recent advances in the field of anoikis regulation.