| Theme | Molecular pathology of colorectal cancer for clinicians | |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Adhesion molecules related to colon cancer metastasis | |
| Publish Date | 2001/05 | |
| Author | Kentaro Maemura | Second Department of Anatomy Osaka Medical College |
| Author | Ichiro Hirata | Second Department of Internal Medicine, Osaka Medical College |
| [ Summary ] | Malignant tumors are characterized by spontaneous proliferation, invasion and metastasis. Accordingly, cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) interactions, mediated by matrix muetalloproteases and cell adhesion molecules, play an important role in each process. The initial step in cancer cell metastasis is a dessociation of cancer cells from cell nests, due to reduced cell-cell adhesiveness, which is dependent on reduced E-cadherin expression. In the second step, matrix metalloproteases, such as MMP-2 and MMP-9 cause basement membrane destruction and cancer cells invade the stroma. As the initial step in hematogenous metastasis, E-selectins expressed on the blood vessels of the target organ interact with carbohydrate ligands on the cancer cells. Subsequently, integrins, activated by chemokines, allow cancer cells to stick to the blood vessels more firmly. Cancer cells then migrate extravenously and form metastatic cancer nests in the target organ. In addition to these molecules, some CD44 variant isoforms also play an important role in the metastasis of colon cancer cells. In this chapter, we describe the adhesion molecules, which are related to the metastasis of colon cancer. |
|