P-选凝素在肿瘤生长和转移中的作用

P-选凝素是细胞粘连分子家族的成员,表迭在活化的内皮细胞和血小板表面。P-选凝素能介导白细胞在激活的内皮细胞上滚动,还能介导白细胞和激活的血小板的聚集。另外P-选凝素可以介导肿瘤细胞和活化的血小板聚集,并帮助肿瘤细胞黏附到活化的内皮细胞表面。本文从肿瘤生物学角度综述了P-选凝素的表达和肿瘤相互关系的实验及临床研究。在临床上,P-选凝素作为肿瘤治疗的靶分子可能成为一种适宜于某些病人的选择性疗法。     

血小板在肿瘤转移中的作用

血小板是巨核细胞产生的无核细胞碎片,其主要功能是参与凝血和止血。近年来,越来越多的研究和临床证据表明,血小板还参与并促进了肿瘤转移。当肿瘤细胞从原位肿瘤组织脱落进入血管后,血小板是其第一个接触到的宿主细胞。作为肿瘤转移微环境中的重要成员,血小板与肿瘤细胞之间相互作用和相互影响。一方面,肿瘤细胞能通过诱导血小板活化和聚集来调节血小板功能;另一方面,血小板能够通过直接接触和释放生物活性介质的方式,促进肿瘤转移。大量的研究结果表明,血小板主要通过以下几条途径促进肿瘤转移:1)降低血液流体剪切力对肿瘤细胞造成的机械损伤;2)帮助肿瘤细胞逃避免疫监视;3)促进肿瘤细胞在血管内的迁移和停滞;4)促进肿瘤细胞上皮间质转化;5)促进肿瘤细胞外渗;6)构建适合肿瘤细胞生存的转移生态位。因此,靶向血小板与肿瘤细胞相互作用成为潜在的肿瘤治疗策略。本文以国内外最新研究进展为基础,综述血小板在肿瘤转移不同阶段发挥的作用,以及抗血小板药物在肿瘤治疗中的应用。     

埃兹蛋白:生物学特征及其在肿瘤转移中的作用

埃兹蛋白(ezrin)是埃兹蛋白、根蛋白和膜突蛋白(ezrin-radixin-moesin,ERM)家族成员之一,主要参与上皮细胞中细胞骨架与胞膜之间的连接,具有维持细胞形态和运动、连接黏附分子及调节信号转导等功能。近年来的研究发现,埃兹蛋白在肿瘤细胞中的表达异常,提示其在肿瘤的浸润、转移机制中发挥重要作用。     

Vimentin在肿瘤转移中的作用及药物研究进展

波形蛋白(vimentin)是存在于间充质细胞中的一种中间丝蛋白,近些年研究显示vimentin与肿瘤发生、转移密切相关。波形蛋白调节细胞骨架蛋白、细胞粘附分子等蛋白间的相互作用,参与肿瘤细胞和肿瘤相关内皮细胞、巨噬细胞的粘附、迁移、侵袭和细胞信号转导。其高度动态的聚合解聚间的平衡和其复杂的磷酸化形式可能是vimentin参与肿瘤转移过程及细胞-细胞间相互作用的调节机制。Vimentin在肿瘤中的功能提示,其可能是抗肿瘤转移治疗药物研究的新靶点。     

TGF-β信号通路在肿瘤侵袭转移中的作用

TGF-β信号通路是一个重要的细胞内信号转导通路,能够通过影响肿瘤微环境、增强肿瘤迁移运动能力和抑制免疫细胞功能来促进肿瘤细胞的侵袭转移。TGF-β信号通路与肿瘤发展之间密切的联系使得TGF-β信号转导通路成为治疗肿瘤的新靶点。本文通过查阅近年来相关文献,概括TGF-β在肿瘤侵袭转移中所起作用的研究进展,并在此基础上对新型抗TGF-β药物治疗进行了展望。     

TGF—β信号通路在肿瘤侵袭转移中的作用

TGF-β信号通路是一个重要的细胞内信号转导通路,能够通过影响肿瘤微环境、增强肿瘤迁移运动能力和抑制免疫细胞功能来促进肿瘤细胞的侵袭转移。TGF-β信号通路与肿瘤发展之间密切的联系使得TGF-β信号转导通路成为治疗肿瘤的新靶点。本文通过查阅近年来相关文献,概括TGF—β在肿瘤侵袭转移中所起作用的研究进展,并在此基础上对新型抗TGF-β药物治疗进行了展望。     

rab5a基因在肿瘤转移中的作用研究

为研究rab5a基因在肿瘤转移机制中的作用,将该基因稳定转染至低转移肺腺癌细胞系AGZY83-a中,采用Superarray肿瘤转移相关基因微芯片分析rab5a对肿瘤转移相关基因的表达影响,共获得了5个差异表达基因,rab5a基因促进s100a4的表达,同时抑制了nm23a、rac1、cst3、col4a2等基因的表达,并分别在RNA及蛋白水平进行验证,确认rab5a基因影响了肿瘤转移的多个途径,促进了肿瘤细胞转移能力增强。     

肿瘤干细胞与肿瘤转移

近年来,肿瘤干细胞(cancer stem cell,CSC)学说研究认为CSC与肿瘤发生、发展、转移和复发关系极为密切。研究还发现CSC具有明显的异质性,即CSC可分为增生、耐药、侵袭和转移等行为不同的亚群细胞,其中具有转移生物学特性的CSC亚群细胞称为肿瘤转移干细胞(migrating cancer stem cell,MCSC)。目前认为,上皮-间质转变、趋化因子和靶器官微环境可能在肿瘤转移过程中起着重要作用。针对MCSC及其相关机制的靶向治疗有望能更有效地遏制肿瘤的转移。     

间质-上皮转化在肿瘤转移中的作用

肿瘤转移是一个多步骤、多因素参与的复杂过程,是目前临床上绝大多数肿瘤患者的致死因素.上皮-间质转化(epithelial-mesenchymal transition, EMT)过程已被证实可促使肿瘤细胞发生转移.近年来许多研究表明,间质-上皮转化(mesenchymal-epithelial transition, MET)即EMT的逆过程,与肿瘤也密切相关,特别是肿瘤转移即形成继发性的肿瘤转移灶.深入研究肿瘤MET有望为肿瘤转移的预防和诊治提供新思路.     

S100A4基因表达在肿瘤转移中的作用

肿瘤转移是细胞恶性的重要标志之一,有许多基因和因子都参与这一过程。对S100A4基因的研究发现,它可参与细胞周期调控、细胞增殖与分化、血管生成、细胞外基质重建等多种生命过程,调控细胞的生长和运动。在某些特定的肿瘤细胞内,它的表达含量的增加可促进肿瘤细胞发生转移,并与癌症的发生具有某些相关性,可能对人类癌症的发生具有预后作用。现就S100A4基因表达与肿瘤转移的关系进行初步的探讨,以期对癌症的临床诊断提供一些参考。     

黏附分子CD24在肿瘤转移中作用

CD24属糖基磷脂酰肌醇锚蛋白。作为P-选择素配体的黏附分子,其可调节B细胞发育和神经发生。研究显示,CD24高表达在多种肿瘤细胞表面,参与肿瘤的发生发展。已通过体外试验和动物模型证实CD24对多种肿瘤生长和转移相关的肿瘤细胞特性具有调节作用;结合人肿瘤组织研究显示,CD24和乳腺癌、前列腺癌、胰腺癌及肝内胆管癌等肿瘤患者的生存率及预后密切相关。因此,以CD24为靶向的肿瘤诊断和治疗有着诱人的临床应用前景。     

Disruption of Lysosome Function Promotes Tumor Growth and Metastasis in Drosophila

Lysosome function is essential to many physiological processes. It has been suggested that deregulation of lysosome function could contribute to cancer. Through a genetic screen in Drosophila, we have discovered that mutations disrupting lysosomal degradation pathway components contribute to tumor development and progression. Loss-of-function mutations in the Class C vacuolar protein sorting (VPS) gene, deep orange (dor), dramatically promote tumor overgrowth and invasion of the Ras^V12 cells. Knocking down either of the two other components of the Class C VPS complex, carnation (car) and vps16A, also renders Ras^V12 cells capable for uncontrolled growth and metastatic behavior. Finally, chemical disruption of the lysosomal function by feeding animals with antimalarial drugs, chloroquine or monensin, leads to malignant tumor growth of the Ras^V12 cells. Taken together, our data provide evidence for a causative role of lysosome dysfunction in tumor growth and invasion and indicate that members of the Class C VPS complex behave as tumor suppressors.     

综述: 糖基转移酶超家族在肿瘤转移中的作用

蛋白质的糖基化修饰主要包括N-连接糖基化、O-连接糖基化和糖基磷脂酰肌醇锚定连接．与核酸和蛋白质不同,糖链的合成过程并不遵循传统的基因信息传递的中心法则,主要由一系列催化糖苷键形成的糖基转移酶完成．异常糖基化修饰被认为与恶性肿瘤的发生发展和临床预后密切相关．研究表明,糖基转移酶的表达及其糖链结构的异常可通过调节肿瘤细胞与细胞外基质的相互作用,继而影响肿瘤转移的关键步骤,如上皮间质转化(E-钙黏着蛋白、N-钙黏着蛋白)、细胞的移动性(整合素β1和α5)、侵袭(基质金属蛋白酶MMPs)、浸润(唾液酸化Lewis抗原sLeX和sLeA)．本文主要就唾液酰基转移酶、岩藻糖基转移酶和N-乙酰氨基葡萄糖转移酶等三大糖基转移酶家族的结构和生物学功能及其在肿瘤转移中的作用作一综述,以期为肿瘤转移的预测和诊断提供新思路．     

The Motor Protein KIF14 Inhibits Tumor Growth and Cancer Metastasis in Lung Adenocarcinoma

The motor protein kinesin superfamily proteins (KIFs) are involved in cancer progression. The depletion of one of the KIFs, KIF14, might delay the metaphase-to-anaphase transition, resulting in a binucleated status, which enhances tumor progression; however, the exact correlation between KIF14 and cancer progression remains ambiguous. In this study, using loss of heterozygosity and array comparative genomic hybridization analyses, we observed a 30% loss in the regions surrounding KIF14 on chromosome 1q in lung adenocarcinomas. In addition, the protein expression levels of KIF14 in 122 lung adenocarcinomas also indicated that approximately 30% of adenocarcinomas showed KIF14 down-regulation compared with the expression in the bronchial epithelial cells of adjacent normal counterparts. In addition, the reduced expression of KIF14 mRNA or proteins was correlated with poor overall survival (P = 0.0158 and <0.0001, respectively), and the protein levels were also inversely correlated with metastasis (P<0.0001). The overexpression of KIF14 in lung adenocarcinoma cells inhibited anchorage-independent growth in vitro and xenograft tumor growth in vivo. The overexpression and silencing of KIF14 also inhibited or enhanced cancer cell migration, invasion and adhesion to the extracellular matrix proteins laminin and collagen IV. Furthermore, we detected the adhesion molecules cadherin 11 (CDH11) and melanoma cell adhesion molecule (MCAM) as cargo on KIF14. The overexpression and silencing of KIF14 enhanced or reduced the recruitment of CDH11 in the membrane fraction, suggesting that KIF14 might act through recruiting adhesion molecules to the cell membrane and modulating cell adhesive, migratory and invasive properties. Thus, KIF14 might inhibit tumor growth and cancer metastasis in lung adenocarcinomas.     

The Intersection of Inheritance and Metastasis: The Role and Implications of Germline Polymorphism in Tumor Dissemination

Metastasis is an enormously complex process that involves both spatial and temporal barriers. Metastatic cells must not only acquire all of the characteristics of a primary tumor, but additionally must be capable of invasion, survival during transit and in the secondary site, interact productively with a novel microenvironment and proliferate to form a clinically relevant lesion 1. Adding complexity to the process is the fact that it can be years or even decades after diagnosis of the primary tumor before the secondary tumors are apparent. A number of models have been proposed to explain the origins of metastasis. However, while all of the models can account for some aspects of the experimental observations, suggesting they may be at least in part true, none adequately explain all of the data. This implies that the existing models are likely to be too simplistic and additional factors must be considered to adequately account for existing and newly emerging data.     

Nicotine Promotes Tumor Growth and Metastasis in Mouse Models of Lung Cancer

Background

Nicotine is the major addictive component of tobacco smoke. Although nicotine is generally thought to have limited ability to initiate cancer, it can induce cell proliferation and angiogenesis in a variety of systems. These properties might enable nicotine to facilitate the growth of tumors already initiated. Here we show that nicotine significantly promotes the progression and metastasis of tumors in mouse models of lung cancer. This effect was observed when nicotine was administered through intraperitoneal injections, or through over-the-counter transdermal patches.

Methods and Findings

In the present study, Line1 mouse adenocarcinoma cells were implanted subcutaneously into syngenic BALB/c mice. Nicotine administration either by intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection or transdermal patches caused a remarkable increase in the size of implanted Line1 tumors. Once the tumors were surgically removed, nicotine treated mice had a markedly higher tumor recurrence (59.7%) as compared to the vehicle treated mice (19.5%). Nicotine also increased metastasis of dorsally implanted Line1 tumors to the lungs by 9 folds. These studies on transplanted tumors were extended to a mouse model where the tumors were induced by the tobacco carcinogen, NNK. Lung tumors were initiated in A/J mice by i.p. injection of NNK; administration of 1 mg/kg nicotine three times a week led to an increase in the size and the number of tumors formed in the lungs. In addition, nicotine significantly reduced the expression of epithelial markers, E-Cadherin and β-Catenin as well as the tight junction protein ZO-1; these tumors also showed an increased expression of the α₇ nAChR subunit. We believe that exposure to nicotine either by tobacco smoke or nicotine supplements might facilitate increased tumor growth and metastasis.

Conclusions

Our earlier results indicated that nicotine could induce invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in cultured lung, breast and pancreatic cancer cells. This study demonstrates for the first time that administration of nicotine either by i.p. injection or through over-the-counter dermal patches can promote tumor growth and metastasis in immunocompetent mice. These results suggest that while nicotine has only limited capacity to initiate tumor formation, it can facilitate the progression and metastasis of tumors pre-initiated by tobacco carcinogens.     

VEGF 家族及其在肿瘤生长中作用的研究

血管内皮生长因子(Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor,VEGF)家族是一类多功能的细胞因子,在血管生成和淋巴管生成中具有直接和间接的调控作用,可促进内皮细胞增殖、促进血管生成以及增加血管的通透性。VEGF/VEGFR轴由多重配基和受体质量叠加交错组成,并且受体与配基结合具有专一性,在不同的细胞中具有不同的细胞类型表达和功能.启动VEGF信号通路,触发了一个网状的信号过程,从而促进血管内皮细胞生长、转移和存活。进来研究发现,VEGF的一个重要作用表现为可动员内皮祖细胞从骨髓向远处转移从而形成新生血管,因而有必要设计和发展针对这一途径的抑制因子。随着研究的深入,VEGF促进肿瘤血管生成的作用和与人类癌症的发病机制的关系是确定的,因此,抑制VEGF途径被确认为是一种重要的有效的抗癌模式     

乳腺癌细胞株中MKK4 的表达及其对细胞转移的影响和机理研究

目的:观察乳腺癌细胞株中MKK4蛋白的表达水平,研究MKK4蛋白表达对乳腺癌细胞运动能力及EMT标志物的影响,确定MKK4在肿瘤细胞EMT转化及肿瘤转移中的作用,为肿瘤转移机制研究提供一定的基础资料,为肿瘤防治奠定一定的理论基础。方法:通过体外细胞培养技术收集系列乳腺癌细胞株的培养裂解液,利用Western blot技术检测细胞培养裂解液中MKK4及EMT标志物的表达水平,构建MKK4表达水平与细胞转移能力的对应图;采用siRNA技术,干扰MKK4高表达乳腺癌细胞株MKK4的表达,Western blot技术观察MKK4低表达后,EMT标志物的变化,同时,构建MKK4质粒,转染MKK4低表达乳腺癌细胞株,Western blot技术观察MKK4高表达后,EMT标志物的变化。并采用MTT法、Transwell、划痕法观察MKK4高表达后细胞增殖、运动、迁移等能力的变化。结果:乳腺癌细胞株中MKK4蛋白的表达水平与乳腺癌细胞运动能力有一定的相关性,并与EMT标志物的表达具有相关性,MKK4蛋白表达越高,细胞运动能力越差。干扰或转染技术影响乳腺癌细胞株中MKK4的表达后,细胞EMT标志物的表达也相应变化,乳腺癌细胞株中MKK4高表达后,其细胞增殖明显抑制,运动迁移能力也相应下降。结论:乳腺癌细胞中MKK4蛋白的表达水平与乳腺癌细胞EMT转化及运动能力有一定的相关性,MKK4蛋白表达越高,细胞运动能力越差。