整合素与肿瘤的转移与血管生成

整合素是一类介导细胞与细胞外基质及细胞与细胞间黏附的细胞黏附分子受体,肿瘤细胞与胞外基质的相互作用对肿瘤的生成及转移有着重要的影响,整合素在肿瘤的生成、侵袭、转移以及肿瘤血管的生成过程中起着重要的作用。本文对整合素的结构、功能,以及它在肿瘤的血管生成过程中的作用,它与细胞外基质间的相互关系做了介绍。     

整合素α6亚单位和肿瘤的发生、发展与转移

整合素为跨膜糖蛋白,属于细胞表面的粘附分子。胞外域介导细胞与细胞及细胞与细胞外基质间的识别与结合,胞质域与细胞骨架和信号转导系统相连。α6亚单位与β1或β4亚单位非共价结合形成异二聚体,是细胞外基质蛋白质——层粘连蛋白的单特异性受体,与肿瘤的发生、发展和转移有着非常密切的关系。多种肿瘤的发生伴有整合素α6表达水平的变化,包括表达水平的升高、降低或极性分布的变化。表现为一些不表达α6β1的细胞,如肝细胞癌变后通过新合成的α6β1介导了肿瘤细胞与基底膜间相互作用而促进了肿瘤细胞的转移;表达α6β1的细胞α6β1失去沿基底膜的极性分布,导致细胞与基底膜的结合减弱,癌细胞易于脱落而发生转移;还可以通过促进细胞基质金属蛋白酶的分泌而促进肿瘤的转移,并导致肿瘤细胞的低分化表型。整合素α6可以促进肿瘤新生脉管的生成,一方面增加瘤组织的血供和营养,促进肿瘤的生长;另一方面促进脱落的肿瘤细胞进入血循环发生转移。     

整合素与EGFR 受体家族相互作用在乳腺癌中的作用研究进展

整合素与表皮生长因子受体（epithelial growth factor receptor，EGFR）在乳腺癌的发生、进展、侵袭与转移过程中发挥着重要 的作用。在乳腺癌中，多种整合素的功能都与细胞的粘附相关，而EGFR 与细胞增殖、转移密切相关，过表达的整合素和EGFR 受 体家族预示着预后不良。通过与受体结合，形成同源或异源二聚体，被活化的受体激活下游的信号蛋白，调节由细胞外至细胞内 的信号途径，由此将刺激信号传入细胞内，从而控制细胞的增殖、转移等细胞生命事件，实现促进肿瘤进展与转移的作用。本文就 整合素与EGFR 之间的相互作用在乳腺癌中的作用、对乳腺癌治疗策略及新药研发方向的影响进行综述。     

alpha-v-beta 3整合素与恶性肿瘤侵袭转移关系的研究进展

整合素家族是细胞粘附分子的重要种类之一,主要作用是介导细胞与细胞之间、细胞与细胞外基质之间的粘附效应。医学 研究证实整合素家族与肿瘤的侵袭及远处转移等生物学行为密切相关。整合素alpha-v-beta-3是整合素家族中的一种重要分子,肿瘤血管内 皮细胞中alpha-v-beta-3的表达水平对肿瘤侵袭转移及血管生成有着重要作用,调节琢v茁3的表达水平可明显影响肿瘤的侵袭转移及肿瘤组 织中新生血管的形成。深入研究整合素alpha-vbeta-3的分子调节机制可以为肿瘤治疗提供新的治疗靶点。     

整合素β4研究进展

整合素又名整联蛋白,是一种介导细胞与其外环境如细胞外基质之间连接的跨膜受体。整合素β4因其特殊的结构,发挥着诸多功能:与整合素α6亚单位组成α6β4,参与构成半桥粒;介导细胞与细胞外基质相互作用、细胞与细胞间相互作用;介导细胞的增殖与存活,迁移和侵袭;通过激活多条信号通路参与各种疾病进程。本文将对整合素β4的结构组成、生理功能及其在呼吸系统、肿瘤、神经系统等相关疾病中的作用进行综述。     

α_vβ_3整合素与恶性肿瘤侵袭转移关系的研究进展

整合素家族是细胞粘附分子的重要种类之一,主要作用是介导细胞与细胞之间、细胞与细胞外基质之间的粘附效应。医学研究证实整合素家族与肿瘤的侵袭及远处转移等生物学行为密切相关。整合素αvβ3是整合素家族中的一种重要分子,肿瘤血管内皮细胞中αvβ3的表达水平对肿瘤侵袭转移及血管生成有着重要作用,调节αvβ3的表达水平可明显影响肿瘤的侵袭转移及肿瘤组织中新生血管的形成。深入研究整合素αvβ3的分子调节机制可以为肿瘤治疗提供新的治疗靶点。     

粘着斑激酶活化与血管内皮剥脱后再狭窄的关系初探

粘着斑激酶(focal adhesion kinase,FAK)是一种非受体酪氨酸激酶,最初是在转染v-Src的鸡胚成纤维细胞中被发现.近年研究证实,AK介导细胞外信号由整合素受体向细胞内转导的过程.FAK的磷酸化激活以及由此产生的下游一系列蛋白质的磷酸化,是细胞外基质(extracellular matrix,ECM)与细胞相互作用并产生一系列生物学效应的关键环节,参与细胞增殖、迁移与凋亡的调节过程.已经发现,AK与肿瘤的生长、浸润和转移密切相关.然而,在以血管平滑肌细胞(vascular smooth muscle ell,SMC)增生为主要特征的血管再狭窄发生过程中,AK是否参与、介导了VSMC的迁移与增殖目前尚未见报道.本文就此进行了初步探讨.     

整合素及其在胚泡植入中的作用

整合素是一类由α、β亚基构成的异二聚体粘附分子,能够与胶原蛋白、纤连蛋白和玻连蛋白等细胞外基质组分相互作用,调节细胞粘附和通讯.作为双向传递分子,整合素通过“胞内→胞外”和“胞外→胞内”两种方式介导细胞信号传递.成功的植入是侵入性的胚泡和接受性的子宫内膜相互作用的结果,整合素能够调节胚泡滋养层与子宫内膜之间的细胞-细胞及细胞-细胞外基质相互作用,是“植入窗口”期子宫内膜接受性的标记分子.     

硫酸乙酰肝素、肝素酶及其与肿瘤转移的关系

细胞外基质和基底膜的降解是癌细胞穿透组织屏障发生转移的重要步骤。硫酸乙酰肝素蛋白聚糖是细胞外基质和基底膜的组成成分,其多糖侧链可以被葡萄糖苷内切酶--肝素酶,特异性识别并切割,以破坏细胞外基质和基底膜的完整性,促进肿瘤转移。临床上肿瘤患者肝素酶高表达与肿瘤恶性程度和转移发生密切相关。深入了解硫酸乙酰肝素、肝素酶及它们与肿瘤转移相关的作用机制有助于我们寻找肿瘤治疗的新思路。本文将从硫酸乙酰肝素的合成调控、功能、肝素酶的转录和活性调节、肝素酶表达与肿瘤患者的临床特征,以及硫酸乙酰肝素、肝素酶与肿瘤转移的关系进行综述。     

尿激酶受体研究进展

细胞表面的尿激酶受体是一种高度糖基化的蛋白质,通过糖基磷脂酰肌醇锚定在细胞膜上。尿激酶受体除能与尿激酶或尿激酶原结合外还与玻连蛋白,整合素,α2巨球蛋白受体—低密度脂蛋白相关蛋白等相互作用。细胞表面的尿激酶受体不仅能促进纤溶酶原的激活、细胞外基质的降解,一些生长因子的释放或活化,而又还参与细胞粘附以及尿激酶／纤溶酶原激活物抑制剂复合物的代谢和细胞迁移。在肿瘤患血液中可溶性尿激酶受体含量显高于正常人,因而对尿激酶受体含量的测定可作为临床肿瘤诊断的指标。动物实验结果表明,阻断尿激酶与尿激酶受体的结合或抑制尿激酶受体的表达可显抑制肿瘤的浸润及转移。     

Plasminogen activation in degradation and penetration of extracellular matrices and basement membranes by invasive bacteria

Methods to assess in vitro the role of plasminogen activation in enterobacterial degradation of extracellular matrices and their protein components as well as in penetration through basement membrane are described. Development of these methods was initiated after the findings that enterobacterial surface structures (fimbriae and the Pla surface protease) function in plasminogen activation as well as in laminin- and/or fibronectin-specific adhesion. Enterobacteria with these properties degrade radiolabeled laminin as well as metabolically labeled extracellular matrix from cultured endothelial or epithelial cells. Plasmin-coated bacteria also penetrate through the reconstituted basement membrane preparation Matrigel. The processes are dependent on plasminogen activation by the invasive bacteria. The results suggest a pathogenic similarity between enterobacteria and tumor cells in cellular metastasis through tissue barriers.     

Collagen XV Inhibits Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Cells

Collagen XV (COLXV) is a secreted non-fibrillar collagen found within basement membrane (BM) zones of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Its ability to alter cellular growth in vitro and to reduce tumor burden and increase survival in vivo support a role as a tumor suppressor. Loss of COLXV during the progression of several aggressive cancers precedes basement membrane invasion and metastasis. The resultant lack of COLXV subjacent to the basement membrane and subsequent loss of its interactions with other proteins in this zone may directly impact tumor progression. Here we show that COLXV significantly reduces invasion of pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells through a collagen I (COLI) matrix. Moreover, we demonstrate that epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) in these cells, which is recapitulated in vitro by cell scattering on a COLI substrate, is inhibited by over-expression of COLXV. We identify critical collagen-binding surface receptors on the tumor cells, including the discoidin domain receptor 1 (DDR1) and E-Cadherin (E-Cad), which interact with COLXV and appear to mediate its function. In the presence of COLXV, the intracellular redistribution of E-Cad from the cell periphery, which is associated with COLI-activated EMT, is inhibited and concurrently, DDR1 signaling is suppressed. Furthermore, continuous exposure of the pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells to high levels of COLXV suppresses endogenous levels of N-Cadherin (N-Cad). These data reveal a novel mechanism whereby COLXV can function as a tumor suppressor in the basement membrane zone.     

Integrins and tumor invasion

Cell-extracellular matrix interactions are important in the process of tumor cell invasion and metastasis. In particular, the interactions of tumor cells with basement membranes of tissue epithelial, as well as vascular endothelial, cells are likely to represent key steps in the metastatic process. The interactions between cells and the connective tissue matrix are mediated by a large family of cell surface receptors, the integrins, which represent multiple receptors for extracellular matrix and basement membrane components. Here, I review recent progress in elucidating the roles of integrins in tumor cell invasion. Altered expression of this large family of receptors on invasive tumor cells, as compared with non-invasive cells, may represent a fundamental step in the progressive expression of the invasive phenotype.     

Establishment and characterization of a novel human myoepithelial cell line and matrix-producing xenograft from a parotid basal cell adenocarcinoma

Summary Myoepithelial cells exert important paracrine effects on epithelial morphogenesis and mitogenesis through direct cell-cell interactions and through synthesis of a basement membrane extracellular matrix. To study these effects further, this study established the first immortalized human myoepithelial cell line, HMS-1, and transplantable xenograft, HMS-X, from the rare parotid basal cell adenocarcinoma. The cell line exhibited a fully differentiated myoepithelial phenotype and the xenograft exhibited the rare property of accumulating an abundant extracellular matrix composed of both basement membrane and nonbasement membrane components with the latter predominating. With HMS-1 as a feeder layer, dramatic and specific induction of epithelial morphogenesis (sheroid formation) occurred with selected normal epithelial and primary carcinoma target cells. HMS-1 and HMS-X provide distinct advantages over the conventional murine matrices in existence. They will be invaluable in future studies of human tumor-myoepithelial and matrix interactions important for tumor cell growth, invasion, and metastasis.     

The effect of extracellular matrix interactions on morphologic transformation in vitro

There is emerging evidence that the structure and function of a cell is dependent in part on the contacts that cells make with the extracellular matrix. We report here the effect of extracellular matrices secreted from both normal and tumor cells have on the structure of normal rat kidney epithelial cells. Normal rat kidney cells plated on the basement membrane secreted by tumor cells adopt a morphology and phenotype which closely resembles a Kirsten-ras transformed normal rat kidney cell. This morphologic transformation was not observed for cells plated on individual extracellular matrix components or on basement membrane secreted by normal placenta cells. This suggests that tumor derived basement membrane has unique characteristics which may cause morphologic transformation of normal rat kidney cells.     

Cytokines and Cell Adhesion Molecules in Tumor-Endothelial Cell Interaction and Metastasis

Metastasis is a multistep process in which a metastatic tumor cell detaches from the primary tumor, invades the surrounding tissues, passes through supporting structures such as interstitial stroma and extracellular matrix, and enters the lymphatic or blood circulation (Poste and Fidler, 1980). Only a few of the neoplastic cells released into the circulation, that survive hemodynamic pressure and host defense mechanisms, will form metastases. The arrest of tumor cells in the capillary bed of secondary organs through an interaction with vascular or lymphatic endothelium and subendothelial basement membrane is followed by their extravasation into the tissue parenchyma, and then micro-metastasis formation. Therefore cell-cell and cell-substrate adhesions occur at different moments in this process. With the recent identification and characterization of cell surface molecules, it has become of particular interest to clarify their role in tumor progression and metastasis (Albelda, 1993).     

Cytokines and Cell Adhesion Molecules in Tumor-Endothelial Cell Interaction and Metastasis

Metastasis is a multistep process in which a metastatic tumor cell detaches from the primary tumor, invades the surrounding tissues, passes through supporting structures such as interstitial stroma and extracellular matrix, and enters the lymphatic or blood circulation (Poste and Fidler, 1980). Only a few of the neoplastic cells released into the circulation, that survive hemodynamic pressure and host defense mechanisms, will form metastases. The arrest of tumor cells in the capillary bed of secondary organs through an interaction with vascular or lymphatic endothelium and subendothelial basement membrane is followed by their extravasation into the tissue parenchyma, and then micro-metastasis formation. Therefore cell-cell and cell-substrate adhesions occur at different moments in this process. With the recent identification and characterization of cell surface molecules, it has become of particular interest to clarify their role in tumor progression and metastasis (Albelda, 1993).     

Use of reconstituted basal membranes for the study of invasion of human tumor cells: current status and future prospects

Tumor metastasis is the major cause of death of oncology patients. One of the characteristic properties acquired by the metastatic cell is the ability to cross basement membranes. These are compartments of extracellular matrix composed largely by collagen type IV, laminin and a heparan sulphate proteoglycan. Here we review the use of a reconstituted basement membrane (Matrigel) in the Boyden chamber assay (Chemoinvasion Assay) for the assessment of the invasiveness of tumor cells of human origin. The possibility of using this test for the rapid evaluation of human tumor specimens from operated patients is discussed.     

Trypsins and their role in carcinoma growth

There are more than 100 distinct types of cancer, and subtypes can be found within specific organs. Cancer progression is a complex multi-step process. These steps reflect alterations that drive the progressive transformation of normal cells into highly malignant ones. One critical step in tumor growth and invasion is the proteolytic processing of the extracellular matrix environment. The degradation of the extracellular matrix not only enables cell migration, invasion, and metastasis formation, but also affects cell behavior in multiple ways; on one hand by cleaving extracellular matrix bound growth factors and on the other hand by inhibiting angiogenesis into the tumor by liberating cryptic endogenous inhibitors of angiogenesis. Serine proteases and matrix metalloproteases are families of proteolytic enzymes involved in physiological and pathological extracellular matrix and basement membrane processing. In this review, we will focus on the role and activation of trypsinogens, a family of serine proteases, in cancer progression.     

Tumor-associated urokinase-type plasminogen activator: biological and clinical significance.

Evidence has accumulated that invasion and metastasis in solid tumors require the action of tumor-associated proteases, which promote the dissolution of the surrounding tumor matrix and the basement membranes. Receptor-bound urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) appears to play a key role in these events. uPA converts plasminogen into plasmin and thus mediates pericellular proteolysis during cell migration and tissue remodeling under physiological and pathophysiological conditions. uPA is secreted as an enzymatically inactive proenzyme (pro-uPA) by tumor cells and stroma cells. uPA exerts its proteolytic function on normal cells and tumor cells as an ectoenzyme after having bound to a high-affinity cell surface receptor. After binding, pro-uPA is activated by serine proteases (e.g. plasmin, trypsin or plasma kallikrein) and by the cysteine proteases cathepsin B or L, resp. Receptor-bound enzymatically active uPA converts plasminogen to plasmin which is bound to a different low-affinity receptor on tumor cells. Plasmin then degrades components of the tumor stroma (e.g. fibrin, fibronectin, proteoglycans, laminin) and may activate procollagenase type IV which degrades collagen type IV, a major part of the basement membrane. Hence receptor-bound uPA will promote plasminogen activation and thus the dissolution of the tumor matrix and the basement membrane which is a prerequisite for invasion and metastasis. Tissues of primary cancer and/or metastases of the breast, ovary, prostate, cervix uteri, bladder, lung and of the gastrointestinal tract contain elevated levels of uPA compared to benign tissues. In breast cancer uPA and PAI-1 antigen in tumor tissue extracts are independent prognostic factors for relapse-free and overall survival.