Alterations in Cell-Extracellular Matrix Interactions during Progression of Cancers

Abstract

Cancer progression is a multistep process during which normal cells exhibit molecular changes that culminate into the highly malignant and metastatic phenotype, observed in cancerous tissues. The initiation of cell transformation is generally associated with genetic alterations in normal cells that lead to the loss of intercellular- and/or extracellular-matrix- (ECM-) mediated cell adhesion. Transformed cells undergo rapid multiplication and generate more modifications in adhesion and motility-related molecules which allow them to escape from the original site and acquire invasive characteristics. Integrins, which are multifunctional adhesion receptors, and are present, on normal as well as transformed cells, assist the cells undergoing tumor progression in creating the appropriate environment for their survival, growth, and invasion. In this paper, we have briefly discussed the role of ECM proteins and integrins during cancer progression and described some unique conditions where adhesion-related changes could induce genetic mutations in anchorage-independent tumor model systems.

Inherent Properties of Extracellular Vesicles Collected from Re-differentiated Cancer Stem Cells

“…The earlier report showed that the activation of hypoxia inducible factor 1 (Hif-1), a transcriptional factor could function as a key regulator under stress conditions of non adhesion where the transformation is induced by up regulation of all the hall mark properties of cancer [2]. We observed the formation of a tube like structure generated in the suspension (Figures 1B & 1C), probably with the aid of dissolution of cells by the process of autolysis.…”

“…Preparation and collection of Adherent (A) and non-adherent (NA) cells from F111 cells is described earlier by Jinka et al [2]. After collecting the Non-adherent cells at 16 hours time point (NA16) from the agarose coated surface, 5ml of complete medium was added to the few cells that were remained on top of the agarose layer and were further incubated at 37˚C in presence of 5% CO 2 by monitoring the cells continuously for 7-10days till the formation of spheroids.…”

“…Cancer stem cells like cells are rare in cancer, but play an important role in maintenance of cancer homeostasis. Hypothetically, CSCs are not only the source of the tumor itself but form the basis for tumor progression, metastasis, resistance to therapy, and subsequent tumor recurrence [1,2]. Isolation of cancer stem cells is critical; however, the existence of cell surface markers such as CD133, ALDH1 and CD44 could be beneficial in the isolation process.…”

Human colon adenocarcinoma HT-29 cell: Electrochemistry and nicotine stimulation

“…Epinephrine at the concentration of 10 μM significantly increased HT-29 cell proliferation by 35% when compared to the control group and also up-regulated matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP-9) activity and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) release. [6,18,19].…”

“…All these effects induced by epinephrine on the physiology of cancer cells lead to poor response of tumours to chemotherapy, and constitute a poor prognostic factor for survival [18,19].…”