Journal Article

Polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (pIgR) in cancer

Chung, Junho, Chae, Jisu, Choi, Jinny

2023

Overview

Background The polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (pIgR) is a transmembrane transporter of polymeric IgA through the intestinal epithelium. Its overexpression has been reported in several cancers, but its role as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker of oncogenesis is currently unclear. Method A literature search was conducted to summarize the functions of pIgR, its expression levels, and its clinical implications. Results pIgR expression has previously been investigated by proteomic analysis, RNA sequencing, and tissue microarray at the level of both RNA and protein in various cancers including pancreatic, esophageal, gastric, lung, and liver. However, studies have reported inconsistent results on how pIgR levels affect clinical outcomes such as survival rate and chemotherapy resistance. Possible explanations include pIgR mRNA levels being minimally correlated with the rate of downstream pIgR protein synthesis, and the diversity of antibodies used in immunohistochemistry studies further magnifying this ambiguity. In ovarian cancer cells, the transcytosis of IgA accompanied a series of transcriptional changes in intracellular inflammatory pathways that inhibit the progression of cancer, including the upregulation of IFN-gamma and downregulation of tumor-promoting ephrins. These findings suggest that both the levels of pIgR and secreted IgA from tumor-infiltrating B cells affect clinical outcomes. Conclusion Overall, no direct correlation was observed between the levels of pIgR inside tumor tissue and the clinical features in cancer patients. Measuring pIgR protein levels with a more specific and possibly chemically defined antibody, along with tumoral IgA, is a potential solution to better understand the pathways and consequences of pIgR overexpression in cancer cells.

• Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: antibodies / Beta cells / biomarkers / Cancer / Cancer Research / carcinogenesis / Chemoresistance / Chemotherapy / Clinical outcomes / Down-Regulation / drug therapy / Ephrins / Epithelium / Hematology / Humans / Immunoglobulin A / Immunoglobulin A - genetics / Immunoglobulin A - metabolism / Immunoglobulins / Immunohistochemistry / Inflammation / Internal Medicine / intestinal mucosa / liver / lungs / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / microarray technology / Neoplasms - genetics / Oncology / Ovarian cancer / ovarian neoplasms / physiological transport / polymers / Protein biosynthesis / protein synthesis / Proteins / Proteomics / Receptors, Polymeric Immunoglobulin - genetics / Receptors, Polymeric Immunoglobulin - metabolism / Review / RNA / survival rate / transcription (genetics) / Tumorigenesis / γ-Interferon