REVIEW article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Molecular and Cellular Oncology
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1596460
This article is part of the Research TopicNational Cancer Research Month 2025: Advances in Detection, Treatment and Therapies in OncologyView all articles
Tight junctional protein family, Claudins (CLDNs) in cancer and cancer metastasis
Provisionally accepted
- 1Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
- 2Center for Precision Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Xiamen, China
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Claudin (CLDN) family proteins are key components of tight junctions in epithelial andendothelial cells, crucial for controlling paracellular permeability and cell-cell adhesion.Aberrant CLDNS expression is frequently observed in cancers and has been linked to tumorprogression, invasion, and metastasis [1] . Recent years have seen a rapid advance inexploring the role played by this protein family in cancer and cancer metastasis, and evenchemotherapy response. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the roles ofCLDNs in solid tumors, highlighting how specific CLDN members function as oncogenicdrivers or tumor suppressors in different cancer types. We also discuss the potential ofCLDNs as biomarkers for prognosis and therapeutic targets (e.g. CLDN18.2-targetedimmunotherapy) [1] . The inclusion of updated literature (particularly post-2020) andbioinformatic analyses (TCGA/GEPIA) reveal emerging trends. Finally, we summarizecommon patterns of CLDN dysregulation across cancers and outline future researchdirections, including pan-cancer CLDN analyses and translational strategies.
Keywords: claudin, CLDN, tight junction, blood brain barrier, metastasis
Received: 19 Mar 2025; Accepted: 13 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ji, Zhuang, Jiang and Martin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Tracey A Martin, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
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