Cure Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma International (iCureASPS)

Friday, August 1, 2008

New Research Results Explain How Dormant Tumor Cells Become Active in Later Years


"The tumor microenvironment has been increasingly recognized as a critical regulator of cancer progression. The extracellular matrix (ECM), a key component of the microenvironment, is in immediate contact with tumor cells. The ECM significantly affects tumor biology and progression by providing factors for cell growth and survival and for stimulating the growth of new blood vessels to feed the tumor. Also, cell adhesion to the ECM triggers signaling pathways that can regulate various phases of cell growth. Thus, interactions between tumor cells and the ECM are critical modulators of the metastatic potential of tumor cells."


Ending paragraph of article

"We hope that, with additional studies, we can begin to discover new ways to therapeutically keep the dormant-to-active switch in the ‘off’ position, thus limiting the chance that micrometastases become active in later life," said Green."

http://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-rel ... ater-years

Definition of ECM

http://jcs.biologists.org/content/123/24/4195


"The extracellular matrix (ECM) is the non-cellular component present within all tissues and organs, and provides not only essential physical scaffolding for the cellular constituents but also initiates crucial biochemical and biomechanical cues that are required for tissue morphogenesis, differentiation and homeostasis. The importance of the ECM is vividly illustrated by the wide range of syndromes, which can be anything from minor to severe, that arise from genetic abnormalities in ECM proteins (Jarvelainen et al., 2009). Although, fundamentally, the ECM is composed of water, proteins and polysaccharides, each tissue has an ECM with a unique composition and topology that is generated during tissue development through a dynamic and reciprocal, biochemical and biophysical dialogue between the various cellular components (e.g. epithelial, fibroblast, adipocyte, endothelial elements) and the evolving cellular and protein microenvironment. Indeed, the physical, topological, and biochemical composition of the ECM is not only tissue-specific, but is also markedly heterogeneous. Cell adhesion to the ECM is mediated by ECM receptors, such as integrins, discoidin domain receptors"

The tumor microenvironment has been increasingly recognized as a critical regulator of cancer progression. The extracellular matrix (ECM), a key component of the microenvironment, is in immediate contact with tumor cells. The ECM significantly affects tumor biology and progression by providing factors for cell growth and survival and for stimulating the growth of new blood vessels to feed the tumor. Also, cell adhesion to the ECM triggers signaling pathways that can regulate various phases of cell growth. Thus, interactions between tumor cells and the ECM are critical modulators of the metastatic potential of tumor cells.

The role of ECM proteins and protein fragments in guiding cell behavior in regenerative medicine.
Barker TH. Biomaterials. 2011.


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/21515169/

Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. 2011 Dec; 3(12): a005058.
doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a005058

PMCID: PMC3225943
NIHMSID: NIHMS429862

Extracellular Matrix Degradation and Remodeling in Development and Disease


Pengfei Lu,1,2 Ken Takai,2 Valerie M. Weaver,3 and Zena Werb2

An important area of future research is to identify the diverse and novel roles of ECM components, especially with regard to its distinct physical, biochemical, and biomechanical properties, in various cellular and developmental processes. The fact that different ECM components can selectively bind to growth factors, which are often repeatedly used in multiple tissue compartments and at different times of organ development, and mediate directional signaling, has profound implications in understanding normal development and cancer. It is conceivable that deregulation of ECM dynamics may lead to a disruption of directional epithelial-mesenchymal cross talk, the basis of normal organ formation and homeostasis. Understanding the roles of ECM dynamics in the dialogues between different tissue components, therefore, can lead to a better understanding of the etiology of certain human congenital defects and cancers

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3225943/