肿瘤血管生成调节因子的研究进展

血管生成促进因子和血管生成抑制因子的平衡控制着肿瘤新生血管的形成。当促进因子的作用强于抑制因子时,便会引起肿瘤血管的生长。因此,了解血管生成调节因子的特点及其作用机制是一项非常重要的研究任务,针对肿瘤血管的抗血管新生治疗有着重要的理论意义和临床实用价值。这为肿瘤的诊断、分期、治疗和预后提供了新的参数指标,为寻找有效的治疗靶点提供了有利的依据。该文就有关的重要血管生成调节因子作一综述。     

基质衍生的血管生成抑制剂研究进展

血管的生成与肿瘤密切相关,抑制肿瘤血管生成可以调节肿瘤的生长。体内存在着内源性的促血管生成因子和抑制因子的平衡,当促血管形成因子增强就会产生新生血管供肿瘤生长,而当抑制因子增强则会抑制肿瘤的生长。本文即对细胞外基质衍生的内源性血管生成抑制因子TSP、内皮他丁、Arresten;Canstatin、Endorepellin、Fibulin、Tumstatin等的特性、应用和作用机制等作一总结。     

基质衍生的血管生成抑制剂研究进展

血管的生成与肿瘤密切相关,抑制肿瘤血管生成可以调节肿瘤的生长。体内存在着内源性的促血管生成因子和抑制因子的平衡,当促血管形成因子增强就会产生新生血管供肿瘤生长,而当抑制因子增强则会抑制肿瘤的生长。本文即对细胞外基质衍生的内源性血管生成抑制因子TSP、内皮他丁、Arresten;Canstatin、Endorepellin、Fibulin、Tumstatin等的特性、应用和作用机制等作一总结。     

源于Ⅳ型胶原的肿瘤血管生成抑制剂

新血管生成是各种生理和病理过程发生的基础。在胚胎形成和胎盘发育等正常生理过程中,新血管的生成是至关重要的;然而对于一些疾病的产生,特别是肿瘤的生长、进展和转移,同样离不开血管生成的作用。伴随着“抗肿瘤血管生成疗法”的提出,控制血管生成“开关”的血管生成刺激因子和抑制因子成为研究的热点。Arresten、Canstatin、Tumstatin和Hexastatin是近些年发现的内源性的血管生成抑制因子,它们同系Ⅳ型胶原α链的非胶原区NC1,具有相似的结构和分子量大小,现有研究表明,它们能与内皮细胞表面整合素受体相结合,有效地抑制内皮细胞的增殖和迁移,降低肿瘤组织的微血管密度,切断肿瘤的营养和氧气供给,从而抑制肿瘤的生长和转移。对其作用机制的研究,将有助于肿瘤血管生成抑制剂新药的研发。     

人血管生成抑制素抑瘤研究进展

肿瘤的发展和转移需要新生血管的形成。人血管生成抑制素是近年发现的能够专一性抑制血管内皮细胞的内皮抑制因子。大量研究表明,在体外用血管生成抑制素处理血管内皮细胞可以抑制新生血管的形成,在体内单独使用血管生成抑制素,或者将血管生成抑制素与其他物质如基质金属蛋白酶、尿激酶联合处理荷瘤小鼠,可以降低小鼠体内肿瘤组织新生血管密度,抑制肿瘤的生长和肿瘤细胞的迁移。简要综述了血管生成抑制素抑制肿瘤生长和转移及其作用机理。     

内皮细胞增殖抑制因子研究进展

内皮细胞过度增殖引起的病理性血管生成是肿瘤、类风湿性关节炎等发病的关键环节。内皮细胞增殖由血管内皮细胞生长因子等促血管生成因子提供促增殖信号,而新近发现的多种内皮增殖抑制因子,如血管内皮抑素、血管抑素、血小板反应蛋白-1、微囊蛋白1、某些microRNAs和某些抑癌基因等,则通过抑制促增殖信号、调节细胞周期、诱导细胞凋亡等途径下调内皮细胞的增殖及血管生成。内皮增殖抑制因子可望成为病理性血管生成防治的新靶点。     

抑制血管生成治疗肿瘤的策略和展望

新生血管生成是绝大多数肿瘤得以生长和转移的必要前提。所以 ,通过抑制肿瘤血管生成来抑制肿瘤是非常有前途的一种方法 ,有望发展成为一种新型的癌症疗法。主要可以分为两大类 :一是通过抑制促血管生成信号或扩大抑制血管生成因子的作用来干扰肿瘤新生血管的形成过程 ,这领域的广泛研究已经发现了一系列促血管生成因子及其抑制剂和血管生成抑制因子 ;二是利用肿瘤血管与正常血管的差别来携带杀伤性药物直接特异性破坏已形成的肿瘤血管 ;另外 ,内皮细胞及其前体细胞制成疫苗也可起到直接杀伤作用。到目前为止 ,虽然很多抑制肿瘤血管的药物已经被用于临床试验 ,但结果往往不尽如人意 ,从长远来看 ,需要更有效的治疗方法。包括抗血管基因治疗策略 ,靶向药物导入系统的研究 ,以及抗血管生成药物和免疫疗法、化疗和放射治疗的联合应用都在探讨中。随着肿瘤模型评估系统的发展 ,抗血管治疗肿瘤的方法在不久的将来一定会广泛进入临床应用。     

肿瘤生长抑制因子—血管抑素和内皮抑素

血管生成是肿瘤生长转移过程中的一个关键环节,因此控制血管生成成为抑制肿瘤生长的重要途径之一。目前已发现了许多血管生成抑制因子,尤以血管抑素和内皮抑素最为引人瞩目。综述了两种肿瘤生长抑制因子的发现、分子结构、生物学活性等,尤其侧重于它们抗肿瘤作用的实验研究。血管抑素与内皮抑素的发现与研究为恶性肿瘤的治疗开辟了新的道路。     

VEGF与肿瘤血管生成及其在抗肿瘤药物开发中的应用

肿瘤血管生成在肿瘤的形成和转移过程中起到很重要的作用,众多的血管生成因子和抑制因子在肿瘤血管生成中起到调控作用,而血管生成因子（VEGF）是其中很重要的一类,通过研究其在肿瘤血管形成过程的调节机制,找到了一条有效的预防和治疗肿瘤的新途径。本文就肿瘤血管生成、VEGF家族的特性、VEGF在抗肿瘤药物开发中的应用做一综述。     

癌抑素(canstatin)在肿瘤治疗中的研究现状

癌抑素(canstatin,Cans)是继血管生成抑素(angiostatin)、内皮抑素(endostatin)和肿瘤抑素(tumstatin)之后,新近发现的一种内源性肿瘤血管生成抑制因子,因其具有高效的抗肿瘤血管形成活性而成为肿瘤治疗中的研究热点。本文就Cans的结构、功能、作用机制及在肿瘤治疗中的研究进展作一综述。     

Molecular mechanisms of tumor angiogenesis

The maintenance of growth of malignant tumors is closely related with the development of the vascular network supplying the tumor with blood. The vascularization of tumor tissue is similar to physiological angiogenesis, but in tumors it has some specific features. During the last 25 years a vast number of biomolecules have been found and described which are involved in the regulation of tumor angiogenesis. This review considers the action mechanisms and specific features of expression of the main angiogenic growth factors, such as the vascular endothelium growth factor (VEGF), angiopoietins (Ang-1, Ang-2), and the basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF). The roles of cytokines, growth factors, proteolytic enzymes, and cell adhesion molecules in the regulation of the key steps of blood vessel generation in the tumor are considered. The significance of angiogenesis in the treatment of oncological diseases and possible approaches for inhibition of the regulatory signals of angiogenic factors are discussed.     

Regulation of tumor angiogenesis by microRNAs: State of the art

MicroRNAs (miRNAs, miRs) are small (21–25 nucleotides) endogenous and noncoding RNAs involved in many cellular processes such as apoptosis, development, proliferation, and differentiation via binding to the 3′-untranslated region of the target mRNA and inhibiting its translation. Angiogenesis is a hallmark of cancer, which provides oxygen and nutrition for tumor growth while removing deposits and wastes from the tumor microenvironment. There are many angiogenesis stimulators, among which vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is the most well known. VEGF has three tyrosine kinase receptors, which, following VEGF binding, initiate proliferation, invasion, migration, and angiogenesis of endothelial cells in the tumor environment. One of the tumor microenvironment conditions that induce angiogenesis through increasing VEGF and its receptors expression is hypoxia. Several miRNAs have been identified that affect different targets in the tumor angiogenesis pathway. Most of these miRNAs affect VEGF and its tyrosine kinase receptors expression downstream of the hypoxia-inducible Factor 1 (HIF-1). This review focuses on tumor angiogenesis regulation by miRNAs and the mechanism underlying this regulation.     

AIF inhibits tumor metastasis by protecting PTEN from oxidation

Apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) exerts dual roles on cell death and survival, but its substrates as a putative oxidoreductase and roles in tumorigenesis remain elusive. Here, we report that AIF physically interacts with and inhibits the oxidation of phosphatase and tensin homolog on chromosome ten (PTEN), a tumor suppressor susceptible for oxidation-mediated inactivation. More intriguingly, we also identify PTEN as a mitochondrial protein and the ectopic expression of mitochondrial targeting sequence-carrying PTEN almost completely inhibits Akt phosphorylation in PTEN-deficient cells. AIF knockdown causes oxidation-mediated inactivation of the lipid phosphatase activity of PTEN, with ensuing activation of Akt kinase, phosphorylation of the Akt substrate GSK-3β, and activation of β-catenin signaling in cancer cells. Through its effect on β-catenin signaling, AIF inhibits epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and metastasis of cancer cells in vitro and in orthotopically implanted xenografts. Accordingly, the expression of AIF is correlated with the survival of human patients with cancers of multiple origins. These results identify PTEN as the substrate of AIF oxidoreductase and reveal a novel function for AIF in controlling tumor metastasis.     

Inhibition of endothelial cell proliferation and tumor angiogenesis by up-regulating NDRG2 expression in breast cancer cells

The N-myc downstream-regulated gene 2 (NDRG2) is involved in tumor cell differentiation and apoptosis, but its function in tumor angiogenesis remains to be established. Here, we employed adenovirus overexpressing NDRG2 (Ad-NDRG2) to efficiently up-regulate target gene expression in the NDRG2-low-expressing, breast cancer cell line MCF-7. Moreover, VEGF secretion was decreased in MCF-7 cells infected by Ad-NDRG2, and medium conditioned by these infected cells could significantly inhibit the proliferation, tube formation and invasion of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Further study indicated that the angiogenesis promoting factors VEGF and HIF-1α were down-regulated, whereas the angiogenesis suppressing factors p53 and VHL were up-regulated in MCF-7 cells infected by Ad-NDRG2. Finally, in a nude mouse model, intratumoral injections of Ad-NDRG2 every 3 days for 20 days significantly inhibited the growth and angiogenesis of xenografted MCF-7 tumors. In summary, these data indicate that NDRG2 may be involved in angiogenesis by impacting the expression of angiogenesis related factors. Thus, specific overexpression of NDRG2 by adenovirus represents a promising approach for the treatment of tumor angiogenesis.     

Inhibitory effect of 5-FU loaded ultrasound microbubbles on tumor growth and angiogenesis

The anti-neovascularization treatment is one of the effective strategies for tumor molecular target therapy. At present, the target and effect of the anti-neovascularization treatment is limited, and it is urgent to establish a new vascular targeting strategy to effectively treat tumors. In this work, we used high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) combined with targeted microbubbles to establish a molecular targeted ultrasound response microbubble for neovascular cells. Furthermore, the effects of drug loaded microbubbles on neovascularization and tumor cells were studied. The tumor vascular targeted and ultrasound-responsive microbubbles of 5-FU@DLL4-MBs were prepared by the thin-film dispersion method. The size and zeta potential of 5-FU@DLL4-MBs was about 1248 nm and −9.1 mV. 5-FU@DLL4-MBs released 5-FU showed an ultrasound-responsive manner, and had better vascular-targeting ability. Furthermore, the 5-FU@DLL4-MBs showed the strongest cytotoxic effect on HUVECs or HepG-2 cells and can be effectively internalized into the HUVECs cells. Thus, 5-FU@DLL4-MBs combined with HIFU can be considered as a potential method for antitumor angiogenesis in the future.     

Effects of inflammatory factors on mesenchymal stem cells and their role in the promotion of tumor angiogenesis in colon cancer

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which are modulated by cytokines present in the tumor microenvironment, play an important role in tumor progression. It is well documented that inflammation is an important part of the tumor microenvironment, so we investigated whether stimulation of MSCs by inflammatory cytokines would contribute to their ability to promote tumor growth. We first showed that MSCs could increase C26 colon cancer growth in mice. This growth-promoting effect was further accelerated when the MSCs were pre-stimulated by inflammatory factors IFN-γ and TNF-α. At the same time, we demonstrated that MSCs pre-stimulated by both inflammatory factors could promote tumor angiogenesis in vivo to a greater degree than untreated MSCs or MSCs pre-stimulated by either IFN-γ or TNF-α alone. A hen egg test-chorioallantoic membrane (HET-CAM) assay showed that treatment of MSC-conditioned medium can promote chorioallantoic membrane angiogenesis in vitro, especially treatment with conditioned medium of MSCs pretreated with IFN-γ and TNF-α together. This mechanism of promoting angiogenesis appears to take place via an increase in the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which itself takes place through an increase in signaling in the hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α)-dependent pathway. Inhibition of HIF-1α in MSCs by siRNA was found to effectively reduce the ability of MSC to affect the growth of colon cancer in vivo in the inflammatory microenviroment. These results indicate that MSCs stimulated by inflammatory cytokines such as IFN-γ and TNF-α in the tumor microenvironment express higher levels of VEGF via the HIF-1α signaling pathway and that these MSCs then enhance tumor angiogenesis, finally leading to colon cancer growth in mice.     

Wogonoside impedes the progression of acute myeloid leukemia through inhibiting bone marrow angiogenesis

Decreasing bone marrow (BM) microvessel density and circulating angiogenic cytokine levels are promising strategies for the treatment of relapsed and resistant acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Previous studies have reported that wogonoside could inhibit the progression of AML and suppress angiogenesis in a solid tumor, but the correlation of these two effects was ignored. In this research, we determined whether wogonoside could inhibit angiogenesis in this hematologic malignancy. We found that wogonoside could inhibit tumor growth and progression, and prolong the survival of nude mice inoculated with U937/MDR. Besides, reducing BM angiogenesis might cause therapeutic effect against resistant AML. Therefore, coculture between AML cells and BM stromal cells was established to imitate their crosstalk. Then, the effect of wogonoside on BM angiogenesis was tested in vitro and in vivo. We found that wogonoside could suppress microvessel formation in the chicken chorioallantoic membrane assay model and matrigel plug assay. The mechanism research revealed that wogonoside could block the JAK2-STAT3 pathway in AML cells and stromal cells to break their positive feedback. We detected several cytokines related to AML or angiogenesis and found that secreted interleukin-8 was a significant angiogenic cytokine to induce BM angiogenesis. These findings supported that new diagnostics and promising treatment strategies could be developed in relapsed and resistant AML patients.     

Modeling the effects of vasculature evolution on early brain tumor growth

Mathematical modeling of both tumor growth and angiogenesis have been active areas of research for the past several decades. Such models can be classified into one of two categories: those that analyze the remodeling of the vasculature while ignoring changes in the tumor mass, and those that predict tumor expansion in the presence of a non-evolving vasculature. However, it is well accepted that vasculature remodeling and tumor growth strongly depend on one another. For this reason, we have developed a two-dimensional hybrid cellular automaton model of early brain tumor growth that couples the remodeling of the microvasculature with the evolution of the tumor mass. A system of reaction-diffusion equations has been developed to track the concentration of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), Ang-1, Ang-2, their receptors and their complexes in space and time. The properties of the vasculature and hence of each cell are determined by the relative concentrations of these key angiogenic factors. The model exhibits an angiogenic switch consistent with experimental observations on the upregulation of angiogenesis. Particularly, we show that if the pathways that produce and respond to VEGF and the angiopoietins are properly functioning, angiogenesis is initiated and a tumor can grow to a macroscopic size. However, if the VEGF pathway is inhibited, angiogenesis does not occur and tumor growth is thwarted beyond 1-2mm in size. Furthermore, we show that tumor expansion can occur in well-vascularized environments even when angiogenesis is inhibited, suggesting that anti-angiogenic therapies may not be sufficient to eliminate a population of actively dividing malignant cells.     

靶向肿瘤血管生成的天然产物研究进展

血管生成在肿瘤的发生发展过程中起着非常重要的作用.促血管生成因子及其受体可以通过调节血管生成促进肿瘤发生发展.因此,发现和开发靶向血管生成因子药物已经成为治疗肿瘤的重要策略.近年来,天然产物因其结构多样、毒副作用低及作用机制独特等优势已然成为开发抗肿瘤药物的主要来源.本文归纳阐述了近年来靶向血管生成因子具有抗肿瘤活性的...