CD26/DPPIV in Cancer Progression and Spread

Synonyms

ADAbp; ADA-CP; CD26; Dipeptidyl-peptidase IV; DPPIV

Definition

CD26/DPPIV is a multifunctional protein in the outer membrane of normal and cancer cells that can (i) remove an amino-terminal dipeptide from many regulatory peptides, terminating their activity, (ii) bind the enzyme adenosine deaminase (ADA) from the extracellular fluid, and (iii) associate directly with proteins of the extracellular matrix. Levels of CD26/DPPIV are variable but typically decline as cancer develops, and this has been linked to disease progression and the shift to metastasis.

Characteristics

CD26/DPPIV is a molecule that has been known in different forms since the 1960s but whose key role in cancer has only been appreciated since the early 1990s when it was shown that the absence or presence of CD26/DPPIV in melanocytes determined whether or not those cells showed behavior that was characteristic of a cancer (melanoma). Our understanding of CD26/DPPIV has an interesting history, as it reflects the...