Title:Progesterone Receptor Membrane Component 1 and its Accomplice:
Emerging Therapeutic Targets in Lung Cancer
Volume: 22
Issue: 6
Author(s): Solaipriya Solairaja, Satish Ramalingam, Nageswara Rao Dunna and Sivaramakrishnan Venkatabalasubramanian*
Affiliation:
- Department of Genetic Engineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur Campus,
Tamil Nadu, Chennai 603203, India
Keywords:
PGRMC1, heme, cancer, binding partners, chemoresistance, tumorigenesis, downstream mediators.
Abstract: Progesterone receptor membrane component 1 (PGRMC1) is a trans-membrane
evolutionarily conserved protein with a cytochrome b5 like heme/steroid binding domain.
PGRMC1 clinical levels are strongly suggested to correlate with poor patient survival and lung
cancer prognosis. PGRMC1 has been reported to possess pleiotropic functions, such as
participating in cellular and membrane trafficking, steroid hormone signaling, cholesterol
metabolism and steroidogenesis, glycolysis and mitochondrial energy metabolism, heme
transport and homeostasis, neuronal movement and synaptic function, autophagy, anti-apoptosis,
stem cell survival and the list is still expanding. PGRMC1 mediates its pleiotropic functions
through its ability to interact with multiple binding partners, such as epidermal growth factor
receptor (EGFR), sterol regulatory element binding protein cleavage activating protein (SCAP),
insulin induced gene-1 protein (Insig-1), heme binding proteins (hepcidin, ferrochelatase and
cyp450 members), plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 RNA binding protein (PAIR-BP1). In this
review, we provide a comprehensive overview of PGRMC1 and its associated pleiotropic
functions that are indispensable for lung cancer promotion and progression, suggesting it as a
prospective therapeutic target for intervention. Notably, we have compiled and reported various
preclinical studies wherein prospective agonists and antagonists had been tested against
PGRMC1 expressing cancer cell lines, suggesting it as a prospective therapeutic target for cancer
intervention.