选择素与肿瘤转移

选择素是已知的细胞粘附分子家族之一，其生理功能是在炎症发生时介导白细胞与血管内皮间的起始粘附.近年来，大量实验证据表明选择素在肿瘤转移的过程中也起重要作用，主要是介导肿瘤细胞与血小板及血管内皮间的起始粘附，另外选择素及其配体也可以作为信号分子促进肿瘤的转移.因此，在将来的临床应用中，选择素及其配体可以作为血清诊断标记监控肿瘤及肿瘤转移的发生；通过抑制选择素与其配体的相互作用，或阻断选择素表达的途径防止肿瘤转移.

Selectins and Tumor Metastasis

The selectins are a family of intercellular adhesion molecules that mediate the initial adhesion of leukocytes to the endothelia of blood vessels during inflammation. Recently, accumulating evidences indicate that the selectins play a crucial role during metastasis. The major mechanism is to mediate the initial adhesion of tumor cells to platelets and vascular endothelia. In addition, selectins and their ligands can also facilitate metastasis as signal molecules. In the future, selectins and their ligands will provide good possibilities as serum diagnostic markers for monitoring tumor and tumor metastasis. Furthermore, by inhibiting the interactions between selectins and their ligands, or by blocking the signaling pathways that lead to the expression of selectins, tumor metastasis would be prevented.