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Review
. 2022 Feb 22;14(5):1116.
doi: 10.3390/cancers14051116.

The Role of Purinergic P2X7 Receptor in Inflammation and Cancer: Novel Molecular Insights and Clinical Applications

John Charles Rotondo  1   2 , Chiara Mazziotta  1   2 , Carmen Lanzillotti  1   2 , Chiara Stefani  1 , Giada Badiale  1 , Giulia Campione  1 , Fernanda Martini  1   2   3 , Mauro Tognon  1
Affiliations
Review

The Role of Purinergic P2X7 Receptor in Inflammation and Cancer: Novel Molecular Insights and Clinical Applications

John Charles Rotondo et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

The purinergic P2X7 receptor (P2X7R) is a transmembrane protein whose expression has been related to a variety of cellular processes, while its dysregulation has been linked to inflammation and cancer. P2X7R is expressed in cancer and immune system cell surfaces. ATP plays a key role in numerous metabolic processes due to its abundance in the tumour microenvironment. P2X7R plays an important role in cancer by interacting with ATP. The unusual property of P2X7R is that stimulation with low doses of ATP causes the opening of a permeable channel for sodium, potassium, and calcium ions, whereas sustained stimulation with high doses of ATP favours the formation of a non-selective pore. The latter effect induces a change in intracellular homeostasis that leads to cell death. This evidence suggests that P2X7R has both pro- and anti-tumour proprieties. P2X7R is increasingly recognised as a regulator of inflammation. In this review, we aimed to describe the most relevant characteristics of P2X7R function, activation, and its ligands, while also summarising the role of P2X7R activation in the context of inflammation and cancer. The currently used therapeutic approaches and clinical trials of P2X7R modulators are also described.

Keywords: ATP; BzATP; P2X7 receptor; P2X7R; colon cancer; immune system; infection; inflammation; malignant pleural mesothelioma; melanoma; tumour microenvironment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic representation of P2X7 receptor (P2X7R). P2X7R is an ion channel permeable to Na+, K+, and Ca+2. P2X7R physiological stimulation with ATP leads to channel opening for Na+, K+, and Ca+2, while long-term stimulation of P2X7R with ATP causes the opening of a non-selective pore that allows the passage of molecules whose molecular weight is lower than 900 Da.
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