the role of Furin in colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among men and women . Although complete surgical removal of tumors may be curative in the early stage of CRC, systemic therapy is still the most common way to treat advanced CRC by targeting signaling pathways related to the progression of CRC.

Furin is the first discovered convertase and so far, the best-characterized PC. In vitro and in vivo studies have shown that this protease is involved in the cleavage of many protein precursors ranging from growth factors and its receptors, to adhesion molecules, and extracellular matrix proteins . In addition, overexpression of furin has been observed in various cancer types and its repression was found to  inhibit tumor-related capabilities such as sustained proliferation, angiogenesis, immune evasion and metastatic dissemination . This indicates that Furin could be an ideal target for cancer treatments including CRC..