Cancer Biology and the Nuclear Envelope

The "nuclear envelope" otherwise known as the nuclear membrane, has been linked to cancer since the 1860s when the nucleoplasmic ratio began to be used diagnostically; however it is only recently that molecular studies have begun deciphering mechanistic links underlying nuclear size and shape changes that could support tumorigenesis. Nuclear morphology, largely directed by nuclear envelope proteins, has for 150 years been used diagnostically in many types of cancer. It was not until the 1970s, however, when the first nuclear envelope proteins lamins were identified. Hundreds of additional nuclear envelope proteins have been identified in the last decade. Once identified, lamins, particularly the lamin A protein, began to be used for grading certain cancers as a prognostic indicator. Although there are good statistics and consistency for this usage in particular tumor types, the lack of consistency between cancers from different tissues in whether lamin A was an indicator of more aggressive or more benign tumors has for many years been a great paradox. However, since lamins and other nuclear envelope proteins have now been linked to over two-dozen different inherited diseases, many studies on their molecular function have yielded clues to explain this paradox. This volume gives a comprehensive overview of the wide range of functions recently identified for nuclear envelope proteins that impact on both general cancer mechanisms and can explain the prognostic value of nuclear envelope markers in specific tumors. It also covers the most recent studies that link the nuclear envelope to cell cycle regulation, DNA repair responses, nuclear architecture and morphology, cell mechanical stability and migration in highly metastatic cancers and regulation of both general gene expression and metastagenes.