综述: 细胞外基质与肿瘤相关成纤维细胞

肿瘤的发生发展是一个肿瘤细胞与其微环境相互促进,共同演化的动态过程．实体肿瘤的发生发展过程伴随细胞外基质的过量沉积及其组织形式的异常以及成纤维细胞的活化和富集．细胞外基质与肿瘤相关成纤维细胞不仅是实体肿瘤的重要病理特征,同时也是恶性肿瘤发展的重要驱动力量．细胞外基质与肿瘤相关成纤维细胞通过多种机制促进了肿瘤的发生、发展和转移．针对细胞外基质与肿瘤相关成纤维细胞进行肿瘤治疗,可以为肿瘤的临床治疗提供新的思路．     

Tenascin-C: Exploitation and collateral damage in cancer management

Despite an increasing knowledge about the causes of cancer, this disease is difficult to cure and still causes far too high a death rate. Based on advances in our understanding of disease pathogenesis, novel treatment concepts, including targeting the tumor microenvironment, have been developed and are being combined with established treatment regimens such as surgical removal and radiotherapy. Yet it is obvious that we need additional strategies to prevent tumor relapse and metastasis. Given its exceptional high expression in most cancers with low abundance in normal tissues, tenascin-C appears an ideal candidate for tumor treatment. Here, we will summarize the current applications of targeting tenascin-C as a treatment for different tumors, and highlight the potential of this therapeutic approach.     

Innate Sensing through Mesenchymal TLR4/MyD88 Signals Promotes Spontaneous Intestinal Tumorigenesis

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Fibrosis and cancer: Do myofibroblasts come also from epithelial cells via EMT?

Myofibroblasts produce and modify the extracellular matrix (ECM), secrete angiogenic and pro-inflammatory factors, and stimulate epithelial cell proliferation and invasion. Myofibroblasts are normally induced transiently during wound healing, but inappropriate induction of myofibroblasts causes organ fibrosis, which greatly enhances the risk of subsequent cancer development. As myofibroblasts are also found in the reactive tumor stroma, the processes involved in their development and activation are an area of active investigation. Emerging evidence suggests that a major source of fibrosis- and tumor-associated myofibroblasts is through transdifferentiation from non-malignant epithelial or epithelial-derived carcinoma cells through epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). This review will focus on the role of EMT in fibrosis, considered in the context of recent studies showing that exposure of epithelial cells to matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) can lead to increased levels of cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) that stimulate transdifferentiation to myofibroblast-like cells. As deregulated MMP expression and increased cellular ROS are characteristic of both fibrosis and malignancy, these studies suggest that increased MMP expression may stimulate fibrosis, tumorigenesis, and tumor progression by inducing a specialized EMT in which epithelial cells transdifferentiate into activated myofibroblasts. This connection provides a new perspective on the development of the fibrosis and tumor microenvironments.     

CAF-induced placental growth factor facilitates neoangiogenesis in hepatocellular carcinoma

As a highly malignant tumor,hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide.In most HCC patients,the development of...     

TGF-β对肿瘤微环境中免疫监视及细胞外基质的调控作用

转化生长因子β(transforming growth factorβ,TGF-β)是一种多功能的细胞因子,能够调控细胞增殖、分化、黏附、迁移及凋亡等行为,在胚胎发育过程和成体组织稳态维持中发挥重要的作用。而在许多疾病状态下,特别是在癌症中,TGF-β不仅能够影响肿瘤细胞的增殖与转移,其对于肿瘤微环境的调控与塑造也受到越来越多的关注。肿瘤微环境是指肿瘤在发生和发展过程中所处的内环境,由肿瘤细胞本身、相邻正常组织中的间质细胞,以及这些细胞所释放的众多细胞因子等共同组成。肿瘤微环境是肿瘤发展的重要机制,也是肿瘤临床治疗领域亟待探索的关键问题。TGF-β是调节肿瘤微环境组成和功能的主要参与者之一。在本综述中,将着重讨论TGF-β对于肿瘤微环境中的免疫监视机制及肿瘤细胞外基质的主要影响。即TGF-β对于构成先天性和获得性抗肿瘤免疫应答的各种类群的免疫细胞具有广泛的调控作用,从而削弱宿主的肿瘤免疫监视功能。同时,TGF-β通过促进肿瘤相关成纤维细胞的产生,以及肿瘤细胞外基质的纤维化,有助于肿瘤的恶变和转移。此外,还介绍了通过阻断肿瘤微环境中TGF-β信号通路进行肿瘤治疗的主要策略及独特优势。而未来进一步解析TGF-β信号在肿瘤微环境中的复杂调控作用,并建立有效的靶向干预方法对于开发高效的抗肿瘤药物具有重要的意义。     

Oncogenes induce the cancer-associated fibroblast phenotype: Metabolic symbiosis and “fibroblast addiction” are new therapeutic targets for drug discovery

Metabolic coupling, between mitochondria in cancer cells and catabolism in stromal fibroblasts, promotes tumor growth, recurrence, metastasis, and predicts anticancer drug resistance. Catabolic fibroblasts donate the necessary fuels (such as L-lactate, ketones, glutamine, other amino acids, and fatty acids) to anabolic cancer cells, to metabolize via their TCA cycle and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). This provides a simple mechanism by which metabolic energy and biomass are transferred from the host microenvironment to cancer cells. Recently, we showed that catabolic metabolism and “glycolytic reprogramming” in the tumor microenvironment are orchestrated by oncogene activation and inflammation, which originates in epithelial cancer cells. Oncogenes drive the onset of the cancer-associated fibroblast phenotype in adjacent normal fibroblasts via paracrine oxidative stress. This oncogene-induced transition to malignancy is “mirrored” by a loss of caveolin-1 (Cav-1) and an increase in MCT4 in adjacent stromal fibroblasts, functionally reflecting catabolic metabolism in the tumor microenvironment. Virtually identical findings were obtained using BRCA1-deficient breast and ovarian cancer cells. Thus, oncogene activation (RAS, NFkB, TGF-β) and/or tumor suppressor loss (BRCA1) have similar functional effects on adjacent stromal fibroblasts, initiating “metabolic symbiosis” and the cancer-associated fibroblast phenotype. New therapeutic strategies that metabolically uncouple oxidative cancer cells from their glycolytic stroma or modulate oxidative stress could be used to target this lethal subtype of cancers. Targeting “fibroblast addiction” in primary and metastatic tumor cells may expose a critical Achilles’ heel, leading to disease regression in both sporadic and familial cancers.     

血小板源性生长因子C：脏器纤维化治疗的新兴靶点

脏器纤维化是一种严重的不可逆病理生理过程,尤其在肝、肾、肺、心等关键脏器中表现尤为显著。因其病因及复杂的发病机制尚未完全明确,给该疾病的诊治和预防带来了巨大的挑战。血小板源性生长因子C(platelet-derived growth factor-C,PDGF-C)是由多种细胞分泌的促有丝分裂因子,可通过自分泌或旁分泌途径,在生物体内发挥关键的生物学效应。PDGF-C能够激活上皮细胞、内皮细胞、免疫细胞以及成纤维细胞,诱导其在纤维化进程中进行增殖与迁移,促进细胞外基质成分的过度沉积,共同调控纤维化的发生发展。此外,PDGF-C还可与PDGF受体（PDGFR）特异性结合,进而激活JAK/STAT、PI3K/AKT、Ras-MAPK等多种信号转导途径,进一步加速纤维化进程。多项研究表明,在脏器纤维化进程中,PDGF-C因表达量呈现上调趋势的特点,有望成为治疗脏器纤维化疾病的潜在新兴靶点。本文综述了PDGF-C的结构功能、表达调控及其在脏器纤维化中的作用机制,同时探讨了靶向PDGF-C/PDGFR通路抑制剂的研发与应用前景,旨在为脏器纤维化的诊治及新药开发提供新的策略,促进相关领域的研究发展与思考。     

Effects of the isothiocyanate sulforaphane on TGF-β1-induced rat cardiac fibroblast activation and extracellular matrix interactions

An important step in many pathological conditions, particularly tissue and organ fibrosis, is the conversion of relatively quiescent cells into active myofibroblasts. These are highly specialized cells that participate in normal wound healing but also contribute to pathogenesis. These cells possess characteristics of smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts, have enhanced synthetic activity secreting abundant extracellular matrix components, cytokines, and growth factors, and are capable of generating contractile force. As such, these cells have become potential therapeutic targets in a number of disease settings. Transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) is a potent stimulus of fibrosis and myofibroblast formation and likewise is an important therapeutic target in several disease conditions. The plant-derived isothiocyanate sulforaphane has been shown to have protective effects in several pathological models including diabetic cardiomyopathy, carcinogenesis, and fibrosis. These studies suggest that sulforaphane may be an attractive preventive agent against disease progression, particularly in conditions involving alterations of the extracellular matrix and activation of myofibroblasts. However, few studies have evaluated the effects of sulforaphane on cardiac fibroblast activation and their interactions with the extracellular matrix. The present studies were carried out to determine the potential effects of sulforaphane on the conversion of quiescent cardiac fibroblasts to an activated myofibroblast phenotype and associated alterations in signaling, expression of extracellular matrix receptors, and cellular physiology following stimulation with TGF-β1. These studies demonstrate that sulforaphane attenuates TGF-β1-induced myofibroblast formation and contractile activity. Sulforaphane also reduces expression of collagen-binding integrins and inhibits canonical and noncanonical TGF-β signaling pathways.     

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。