The emerging role of fatty acid-binding protein 3 (FABP3) in cancer.

Abstract

Fatty acid-binding proteins (FABPs) are intracellular transporter proteins that regulate lipid transport, signalling, and homeostasis. In this review, we assess whether upregulation of FABP3 is oncogenic. Cancers where overexpression of FABP3 was shown to be oncogenic included breast, brain, nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC), gastric, melanomas, and leiomyosarcoma. FABP3 knockdown in brain, oesophageal, and melanoma cell lines reduced proliferation, migration, invasion, and colony formation in vitro, and attenuated glioma tumour burden in vivo. In tumours and the tumour immune microenvironment, the protumoral mechanisms of FABP3 are associated with hypoxia, ferroptosis, endothelial growth factor receptor resistance, and lipid metabolism. Emerging mechanisms primarily relate to its role as a chaperone of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Overall, FABPs appear to be promising targets for novel cancer treatments.