炎症反应促进肿瘤的侵袭和转移的研究进展

恶性肿瘤严重威胁人类健康,其侵袭和转移是肿瘤患者死亡的重要原因。大量研究表明,肿瘤微环境对肿瘤细胞的侵袭和转移有着重要的作用。肿瘤细胞在肿瘤微环境中会受到多种因素的影响,其中炎症反应产生的多种炎症细胞、细胞因子等会为肿瘤细胞的恶性转化提供有利条件。     

上皮间质转化在肿瘤侵袭转移中的研究进展

上皮-间质转化（epithelial-mesenchymal transitions,EMT）是上皮细胞向间质细胞转化的现象,不仅参与胚胎发育和正常生理,还参与许多病理过程。同样EMT也参与肿瘤的发生与发展,尤其在促进肿瘤侵袭转移中发挥着重要作用。研究表明,肿瘤细胞借助EMT方式增强肿瘤细胞迁移和运动能力,促进肿瘤的侵袭与转移。在肿瘤侵袭转移历程中,关于EMT发生的分子调控机制研究已取得了良好的进展,但其详细机制仍然不是十分清楚。本文主要介绍生长因子、转录因子、miRNAs、甲基化及其他调控因子在肿瘤EMT中的调控功能,进一步综述EMT在肿瘤侵袭转移中的作用。     

胃癌的肿瘤微环境研究进展

肿瘤微环境是决定肿瘤细胞行为的主要影响因素,有别于正常细胞与其周围组织所形成的微环境,组织缺氧和酸中毒、间质高压形成、大量生长因子和蛋白水解酶的产生及免疫炎性反应等构成了肿瘤组织代谢环境的生物学特征,这种特性在肿瘤的发生、进展、转移中扮演重要的角色。胃癌早期症状不典型、转移迅速、死亡率高,是消化系统最常见的恶性肿瘤,目前,关于肿瘤微环境的研究尚处于起步阶段,对胃癌肿瘤微环境的研究有助于我们进一步认识胃癌发生发展的机制,并为临床诊断、治疗胃癌提供依据。因此,本文就近年来在胃癌肿瘤微环境方面的研究进展作一综述。     

TGF-β调节的EMT在肿瘤浸润、转移中作用的研究进展

恶性肿瘤的浸润转移是导致肿瘤患者死亡的主要原因,转化生长因子-β(transforming growth factor-β,TGF-β)调节的上皮间质转化(epithelial-mesenchymal transition,EMT)能使肿瘤上皮细胞转变为具有间质特性的细胞,肿瘤细胞由此获得侵袭性和迁移性,从原发灶中逸出,进而发生转移。因此,对TGF-β调节的EMT在肿瘤浸润转移中作用的深入研究能够为临床治疗肿瘤转移提供研究基础。将对TGF-β调节EMT的信号通路,及其在肿瘤浸润转移中的作用和干预研究进行综述。     

外泌体调控肿瘤侵袭转移的研究进展

外泌体(exosomes)是一种由多种类型细胞分泌的磷脂双层膜囊泡，直径在30～100 nm之间。它们存在于几乎所有体液中，如血液、脑脊液、尿液、胆汁、乳汁等。外泌体能够携带多种物质，介导细胞间通讯并反映来源细胞的状态。外泌体在肿瘤进展中发挥了重要的作用，它们可以通过促进肿瘤细胞上皮-间质转化(epithelial-mesenchymal transition,EMT)、形成转移前微环境(pre-metastatic niche,PMN)以及促进促炎症和免疫抑制微环境的形成，促进肿瘤的侵袭转移。本文综述了外泌体调控肿瘤侵袭转移的作用机制，包括外泌体介导的细胞间信号传递、外泌体调控肿瘤细胞增殖、迁移和侵袭等方面。此外，本文还探讨了外泌体在肿瘤微环境中的作用及其与免疫逃逸的关系，期望为深入研究外泌体对肿瘤的调控作用提供新的思路、为肿瘤治疗提供新的靶点和策略。     

白细胞介素-8与肿瘤免疫逃逸

IL-8是趋化因子CXC家族的一员,是一种多细胞来源的细胞因子,在细胞的多种炎症反应中起调节作用,并且在自身免疫性疾病中也发挥重要作用。IL-8通过与细胞膜上的CXC趋化因子受体CXCR1和CXCR2相互作用,激活偶联的G蛋白,由G蛋白进一步激活PLC、AC、PLD、PI3K、JAK2及Ras等信号分子,从而调控基因表达、细胞增殖和分化、细胞代谢、细胞运动及血管生成等多种细胞生命过程。IL-8在多种恶性肿瘤细胞中表达量升高,其高表达与肿瘤细胞增殖、迁移、侵袭、血管生成及上皮间充质转化有密切联系。肿瘤免疫逃逸是肿瘤细胞产生和转移过程中的主要特征之一,肿瘤细胞可以通过多种机制使得人体免疫系统无法对其进行正常的识别和攻击,从而导致肿瘤细胞在体内存活,并且不断增殖和转移,而肿瘤细胞、免疫细胞以及肿瘤微环境中其他相关组分均可以促进肿瘤免疫逃逸。IL-8作为一种炎性趋化因子,已被证明在肿瘤免疫逃逸中具有重要作用,其可通过诱导肿瘤细胞PD-L1表达、抑制肿瘤细胞凋亡、促进肿瘤细胞EMT进程、促进肿瘤微环境血管生成、招募免疫抑制性细胞等五个方面介导肿瘤免疫逃逸。IL-8中和抗体和CXCR1/2拮抗剂在抗肿瘤治疗方面已经显示出较好的治疗效果。     

肿瘤酸性微环境的研究进展

研究表明,肿瘤转移是恶性肿瘤的临床治疗失败的根本原因。肿瘤转移不仅取决于肿瘤细胞自身的特性,还涉及其与肿瘤酸性微环境之间的相互作用。肿瘤微环境构成非常复杂,可促进肿瘤的增生、转移、侵袭,以及逃避宿主免疫监视和治疗耐药性。肿瘤细胞的生存依赖于在酸性微环境条件下的适应,肿瘤细胞可以通过一些离子交换体维持酸性微环境,缺氧的肿瘤组织酸化可以释放蛋白酶如纤维蛋白酶及MMPs降解细胞外基质、上调VEGF基因表达促进肿瘤新生血管生成等促进肿瘤侵袭转移。近年来,影响肿瘤微环境的因素已经成为癌症研究领域中的新兴话题。     

调控肿瘤上皮–间质转化及肿瘤干细胞样特性的信号通路串话

上皮–间质转化（epithelial-mesenchymal transition,EMT）是上皮来源肿瘤细胞获得侵袭和转移能力的重要生物学过程。肿瘤干细胞样细胞（cancer stem-like cells,CSLCs）在肿瘤发生、侵袭、转移和复发中亦起着关键作用。近年发现,EMT与肿瘤干细胞样特性获得存在密切关联,二者通过TGF-β、Wnt/β-catenin、Notch、Hedgehog、FGF、PI3k/Akt等多种信号通路及通路间的信号串话而交互作用,共同影响着肿瘤发生、侵袭及转移,了解调控EMT/CSLCs关键信号分子的功能及相互作用对于肿瘤靶向治疗具有重要意义。     

成纤维细胞激活蛋白α与肿瘤发展进程的研究

肿瘤微环境对肿瘤的发生、发展具有重要的意义。选择性表达于肿瘤微环境重要组成部分——肿瘤相关成纤维细胞（carcinoma associated fibroblasts,CAFs）表面的成纤维细胞激活蛋白α（fibroblast activation protein-α,FAPα）广泛参与了肿瘤的生长、侵袭、转移以及肿瘤细胞外基质重建、血管生成、免疫逃逸等过程,从而促进了肿瘤的发展进程。FAPα具有蛋白水解酶活性,并作用于细胞信号通路,但FAPα在肿瘤微环境中发挥功能的具体分子机制还有待进一步研究。由于FAPα的表达具有肿瘤组织特异性,因此,以FAPα作为肿瘤基质标志物,对肿瘤进行病理诊断和免疫治疗将成为新兴的研究靶点。对FAPα的主要生物学性状进行概述,并综述了其对肿瘤细胞的生长、侵袭、转移以及肿瘤细胞外基质重建、血管生成、免疫逃逸等方面的重要影响。     

食管鳞癌上皮间质转化与肿瘤侵袭转移的研究进展

食管癌是全球常见的恶性肿瘤之一,在中国主要以鳞癌为主。虽然近年来食管鳞癌的早期诊断、手术治疗以及局部和全身的辅助治疗等方面的研究进展显著,但食管鳞癌的发病率和死亡率仍然居高不下,其中肿瘤的侵袭和转移是导致患者死亡的最主要原因。肿瘤细胞的侵袭和转移能力主要通过上皮间质转化(epithelial-mesenchymal transition,EMT)过程来获得。EMT是一个动态、多步骤和高度复杂的过程,其中涉及到肿瘤细胞基因、表观遗传学等的改变,这些改变与肿瘤的侵袭和转移密切相关。本文综述了食管鳞癌EMT与肿瘤侵袭转移的研究进展,旨在为食管鳞癌的诊断治疗研究积累基础理论资料。     

The tumor microenvironment and its contribution to tumor evolution toward metastasis

Cancer cells acquire cell-autonomous capacities to undergo limitless proliferation and survival through the activation of oncogenes and inactivation of tumor suppressor genes. Nevertheless, the formation of a clinically relevant tumor requires support from the surrounding normal stroma, also referred to as the tumor microenvironment. Carcinoma-associated fibroblasts, leukocytes, bone marrow-derived cells, blood and lymphatic vascular endothelial cells present within the tumor microenvironment contribute to tumor progression. Recent evidence indicates that the microenvironment provides essential cues to the maintenance of cancer stem cells/cancer initiating cells and to promote the seeding of cancer cells at metastatic sites. Furthermore, inflammatory cells and immunomodulatory mediators present in the tumor microenvironment polarize host immune response toward specific phenotypes impacting tumor progression. A growing number of studies demonstrate a positive correlation between angiogenesis, carcinoma-associated fibroblasts, and inflammatory infiltrating cells and poor outcome, thereby emphasizing the clinical relevance of the tumor microenvironment to aggressive tumor progression. Thus, the dynamic and reciprocal interactions between tumor cells and cells of the tumor microenvironment orchestrate events critical to tumor evolution toward metastasis, and many cellular and molecular elements of the microenvironment are emerging as attractive targets for therapeutic strategies.     

The tumor microenvironment: An irreplaceable element of tumor budding and epithelial-mesenchymal transition-mediated cancer metastasis

Tumor budding occurs at the invasive front of cancer; the tumor cells involved have metastatic and stemness features, indicating a poor prognosis. Tumor budding is partly responsible for cancer metastasis, and its initiation is based on the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process. The EMT process involves the conversion of epithelial cells into migratory and invasive cells, and is a profound event in tumorigenesis. The EMT, associated with the formation of cancer stem cells (CSCs) and resistance to therapy, results from a combination of gene mutation, epigenetic regulation, and microenvironmental control. Tumor budding can be taken to represent the EMT in vivo. The EMT process is under the influence of the tumor microenvironment as well as tumor cells themselves. Here, we demonstrate that the tumor microenvironment dominates EMT development and impacts cancer metastasis, as well as promotes CSC formation and mediates drug resistance. In this review, we mainly discuss components of the microenvironment, such as the extracellular matrix (ECM), inflammatory cytokines, metabolic products, and hypoxia, that are involved in and impact on the acquisition of tumor-cell motility and dissemination, the EMT, metastatic tumor-cell formation, tumor budding and CSCs, and cancer metastasis, including subsequent chemo-resistance. From our point of view, the tumor microenvironment now constitutes a promising target for cancer therapy.     

Extracellular vesicle-mediated transport: Reprogramming a tumor microenvironment conducive with breast cancer progression and metastasis

Breast cancer metastatic progression to critical secondary sites is the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality in women. While existing therapies are highly effective in combating primary tumors, metastatic disease is generally deemed incurable with a median survival of only 2, 3 years. Extensive efforts have focused on identifying metastatic contributory targets for therapeutic antagonism and prevention to improve patient survivability. Excessive breast cancer release of extracellular vesicles (EVs), whose contents stimulate a metastatic phenotype, represents a promising target. Complex breast cancer intercellular communication networks are based on EV transport and transference of molecular information is in bulk resulting in complete reprogramming events within recipient cells. Other breast cancer cells can acquire aggressive phenotypes, endothelial cells can be induced to undergo tubule formation, and immune cells can be neutralized. Recent advancements continue to implicate the critical role EVs play in cultivating a tumor microenvironment tailored to cancer proliferation, metastasis, immune evasion, and conference of drug resistance. This literature review serves to frame the role of EV transport in breast cancer progression and metastasis. The following five sections will be addressed: (1) Intercellular communication in developing a tumor microenvironment & pre-metastatic niche. (2) Induction of the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). (3). Immune suppression & evasion. (4) Transmission of drug resistance mechanisms. (5) Precision medicine: clinical applications of EVs.     

Mechanisms of metastasis: epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and contribution of tumor microenvironment

Every year about 500,000 people in the United States die as a result of cancer. Among them, 90% exhibit systemic disease with metastasis. Considering this high rate of incidence and mortality, it is critical to understand the mechanisms behind metastasis and identify new targets for therapy. In recent years, two broad mechanisms for metastasis have received significant attention: epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and tumor microenvironment interactions. EMT is believed to be a major mechanism by which cancer cells become migratory and invasive. Various cancer cells--both in vivo and in vitro--demonstrate features of epithelial-to-mesenchymal-like transition. In addition, many steps of metastasis are influenced by host contributions from the tumor microenvironment, which help determine the course and severity of metastasis. Here we evaluate the diverse mechanisms of EMT and tumor microenvironment interactions in the progression of cancer, and construct a rational argument for targeting these pathways to control metastasis.     

CREB3 subfamily transcription factors are not created equal: Recent insights from global analyses and animal models

The epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays crucial roles in the formation of the body plan and also in the tumor invasion process. In addition, EMT also causes disruption of cell-cell adherence, loss of apico-basal polarity, matrix remodeling, increased motility and invasiveness in promoting tumor metastasis. The tumor microenvironment plays an important role in facilitating cancer metastasis and may induce the occurrence of EMT in tumor cells. A large number of inflammatory cells infiltrating the tumor site, as well as hypoxia existing in a large area of tumor, in addition many stem cells present in tumor microenvironment, such as cancer stem cells (CSCs), mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), all of these may be the inducers of EMT in tumor cells. The signaling pathways involved in EMT are various, including TGF-β, NF-κB, Wnt, Notch, and others. In this review, we discuss the current knowledge about the role of the tumor microenvironment in EMT and the related signaling pathways as well as the interaction between them.     

炎症-肿瘤转化在眼部相关疾病中的研究进展

炎症向癌症转化的机制一直是癌症研究中的重点。作为炎症-肿瘤转化起始时所处的环境，炎性微环境是一个多种调控因子、细胞的大集合，其中包含的肿瘤干细胞、肿瘤相关巨噬细胞以及细胞因子（如趋化因子、生长因子）等在常见的眼部肿瘤中对肿瘤的起始、发生、演进乃至恶性转化和转移的过程起到了至关重要的调控作用。基于此，主要讨论了在炎性微环境中的肿瘤相关细胞、细胞因子以及细胞外基质等对肿瘤细胞的增殖、转移、浸润、侵袭过程的影响，着重探讨了眼部炎症-肿瘤转化相关的分子机制；并综述了视网膜母细胞瘤、腺样囊性癌等常见眼部肿瘤的特征及其由炎症到肿瘤发生过程中起重要调控作用的分子；最后，针对这些眼部肿瘤普遍存在的信号通路和分子靶点做出了对未来诊断及治疗方法的展望，以期在今后对眼科肿瘤的诊治过程中，能够针对提及的炎性成分设计思路，最大化防止炎症-肿瘤转化和恶性转归出现。     

Inflammation: A driving force speeds cancer metastasis

It has been increasingly recognized that tumor microenvironment plays an important role in carcinogenesis. Inflammatory component is present and contributes to tumor proliferation, angiogenesis, metastasis, and resistance to hormonal and chemotherapy. This review highlights the role of inflammation in the tumor metastasis. We focus on the function of proinflammatory factors, particularly cytokines during tumor metastasis. Understanding of the mechanisms by which inflammation contributes to metastasis will lead to innovative approach for treating cancer.

How tumor spreads remains an enigma and has received great attention in recent years, as metastasis is the major cause of cancer mortality. The complex and highly selective metastatic cascade not only depends on the intrinsic properties of tumor cells but also the microenvironment that they derive from. An inflammatory milieu consisting of infiltrated immune cells and their secretory cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors contribute significantly to the invasive and metastatic traits of cancer cells. Here, we review new insights into the molecular pathways that link inflammation in the tumor microenvironment to metastasis.     

IL-8通过激活PKC/ERK信号通路促进肾癌细胞上皮细胞-间质细胞转化

上皮细胞-间质细胞转化(EMT)在肿瘤转移方面起着非常重要的作用．肾癌发生EMT的具体分子机制尚不清楚．IL-8是一个重要的炎症趋化因子,研究表明肾癌细胞可以分泌IL-8,但IL-8是否参与肾癌细胞EMT的调节目前尚无报道．我们研究发现,IL-8可以促进肾癌细胞形态发生间质化改变,IL-8刺激后E-钙黏蛋白表达水平下降, N-钙黏蛋白表达上调．另外,IL-8可以促进肾癌细胞侵袭,但对肾癌细胞增殖的影响并不明显．进一步研究显示,IL-8通过激活蛋白激酶C(PKC)引起细胞外调节性激酶(ERK)磷酸化．因此,我们认为IL-8可能通过PKC/ERK信号通路促进肾癌细胞发生EMT,这可能是肾癌转移的重要机制之一．