The Role of CD36 in Human Health and Disease

A special issue of Biomolecules (ISSN 2218-273X). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Medicine".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2025 | Viewed by 2657

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1. Cell Biology, Neurosciences and Experimental Myology Laboratory, Victor Babeș Institute of Pathology, 050096 Bucharest, Romania
2. Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology and Histology, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania
Interests: prognostic markers; cancer biomarkers; cancer biology

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Guest Editor
1. Division of Cellular and Molecular Biology & Histology, 'Carol Davila' University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania
2. "Victor Babes" National Institute of Pathology, 050096 Bucharest, Romania
Interests: prognostic markers; cancer biomarkers; cancer biology; cancer metastasis; metastasis
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

During recent years, the CD36 receptor has arisen as a key participant in the multiplayer environment of different homeostatic and diseased states and a brilliant example of resource optimisation in a biological system.

In homeostatic conditions, CD36 is expressed by a wide varety of cell types, where it supports various functions. It was introduced as a  cell adhesion molecule  on platelets and erythrocytes with high affinity for collagens and thrombospondin-1, but later on, it was found to support many other roles, from the recognition, uptake, and processing of fatty acids, to lipids scavenging for anionic or oxidized phospholipids or lipoproteins, angiogenesis inhibition by impairing endothelial cell migration and promoting apoptosis, microglial binding and the clearance of hydrophobic amyloid fibrils in brains affected by Alzheimer’s disease, and even the recognition and clearance of fungi and bacteria, just to name a few. As a result, it has acquired many names  along the way, from glycoprotein IV (GPIV) to fatty acid translocase (FAT), scavenger receptor class B (SR-B2), or glycoprotein 88 (GP88).

There are also multiple CD36-related mechanisms for promoting cancer progression and metastasis, mostly in relation to trombospondins. Other studies suggested that the induction of CD36 expression on tumour cells shifts metabolism from glucose oxidation to lipid uptake and storage, and is proportional to their metastatic potential or cancer progression through epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT).

This Special Issue is an open invitation to highlight what is already demonstrated and to encourage going beyond the edges of this already-expanding universe.

Dr. Laura Cristina Ceafalan
Dr. Mihail E. Hinescu
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • CD36
  • lipid scavenger
  • cell-to-matrix adhesion
  • metastasis
  • neoangiogenesis
  • biomarker

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 9279 KiB  
Article
Melanoma-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Induce CD36-Mediated Pre-Metastatic Niche
by Shankar Suman, Wendy K. Nevala, Alexey A. Leontovich, Caitlin Ward, James W. Jakub, Yohan Kim, Liyi Geng, Noah A. Stueven, Chathu L. Atherton, Raymond M. Moore, Jill M. Schimke, Fabrice Lucien-Matteoni, Sarah A. McLaughlin and Svetomir N. Markovic
Biomolecules 2024, 14(7), 837; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom14070837 - 11 Jul 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1920
Abstract
CD36 expression in both immune and non-immune cells is known to be directly involved in cancer metastasis. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted by malignant melanocytes play a vital role in developing tumor-promoting microenvironments, but it is unclear whether this is mediated through CD36. To [...] Read more.
CD36 expression in both immune and non-immune cells is known to be directly involved in cancer metastasis. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted by malignant melanocytes play a vital role in developing tumor-promoting microenvironments, but it is unclear whether this is mediated through CD36. To understand the role of CD36 in melanoma, we first analyzed the SKCM dataset for clinical prognosis, evaluated the percentage of CD36 in lymphatic fluid-derived EVs (LEVs), and tested whether melanoma-derived EVs increase CD36 expression and induce M2-macrophage-like characteristics. Furthermore, we performed a multiplex immunofluorescence (MxIF) imaging analysis to evaluate the CD36 expression and its colocalization with various other cells in the lymph node (LN) of patients and control subjects. Our findings show that cutaneous melanoma patients have a worse clinical prognosis with high CD36 levels, and a higher percentage of CD36 in total LEVs were found at baseline in melanoma patients compared to control. We also found that monocytic and endothelial cells treated with melanoma EVs expressed more CD36 than untreated cells. Furthermore, melanoma-derived EVs can regulate immunosuppressive macrophage-like characteristics by upregulating CD36. The spatial imaging data show that cells in tumor-involved sentinel LNs exhibit a higher probability of CD36 expression than cells from control LNs, but this was not statistically significant. Conclusively, our findings demonstrated that CD36 plays a vital role in controlling the immunosuppressive microenvironment in the LN, which can promote the formation of a protumorigenic niche. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of CD36 in Human Health and Disease)
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