Ber-EP4

Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (Ep-CAM/Ber-EP4) is a highly conserved type I transmembrane glycoprotein that widely exists in various epithelial tissues, mediating calcium-independent cell adhesion. In clinical practice, Ber-EP4 is mainly used in the diagnosis of epithelial tumors, including lung cancer, gastric cancer, colorectal cancer, renal cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, etc. Especially, it can serve as a crucial identification biomarker between adenocarcinoma (+) and mesothelioma (-). Meanwhile, Ber-EP4 can be used to distinguish basal cell carcinoma (+) from squamous cell carcinoma (-) in the skin. Moreover, some research found that the Ber-EP4 expression level is positively correlated with the invasiveness of tumors such as esophageal cancer, gallbladder cancer, cervical cancer, and ovarian cancer, speculated that it can inhibit adhesion, maintain stemness, and mediate immune escape by interacting with various cytokines. In addition, some scholars indicated that Ber-EP4 can specifically label hepatic progenitor cells (HPCs), which can directly promote the occurrence and development of liver cancer.