The Scribble family in cancer: twentieth anniversary

Abstract

Among the more than 160 PDZ containing proteins described in humans, the cytoplasmic scaffold Scribble stands out because of its essential role in many steps of cancer development and dissemination. Its fame has somehow blurred the importance of homologous proteins, Erbin and Lano, all belonging to the LRR and PDZ (LAP) protein family first described twenty years ago. In this review, we will retrace the history of LAP family protein research and draw attention to their contribution in cancer by detailing the features of its members at the structural and functional levels, and highlighting their shared—but also different—implication in the tumoral process.