The Role of Lipid Rafts in the Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Signaling in Cancer

Specific regions of plasma membrane enriched with cholesterol and sphingolipids, recognized as lipid rafts or membrane rafts, play an essential part in cell signal transduction. The ability to actively utilize or exempt signaling proteins for the reinforcement or inactivation of specific signaling pathways is the prominent characteristic of lipid rafts, enabling them to act as lipid-based units that can affect signal transduction and cell activity. A connection between lipid raft structure changes and enhancement of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway has been reported. Moreover, alteration in lipid raft construction in cancer has also been confirmed. Thus, this review aimed to study the relationship between lipid rafts and the MAPK signaling pathway in a variety of cancer types.