Characterization of Type I collagen synthesis and maturation in uterine carcinosarcomas

Procollagen 1 expression in atypical fibroxanthoma and other tumors

“…Increased PC‐1 expression has been observed in other tumor types, namely, uterine carcinosarcomas, breast carcinomas, and experimental anaplastic thyroid carcinomas 6–8 . Kauppila et al 6 showed that malignant, undifferentiated cells of uterine carcinosarcomas (cells of both epithelial and mesenchymal origin) expressed PC‐1, and that the nearby collagen produced by these cells lacked the mature, fully crossed‐linked structure of collagen produced by benign stromal fibroblasts. This group also observed newly formed collagen (lacking the mature, cross‐linked structure) in poorly differentiated breast carcinomas, although PC expression was limited to stromal fibroblasts and was not seen in the malignant cells 7 .…”

Dense fibrillar collagen is a potent inducer of invadopodia via a specific signaling network

“…Extracellular matrix organization and homeostasis are often dramatically dysregulated in advanced malignancy. Fibrillar collagen, particularly collagen type I, is deposited densely in stroma adjacent to tumors ( Zhu et al, 1995 ; Kauppila et al, 1998 , 1999 ; van Kempen et al, 2008 ; Huijbers et al, 2010 ; Shields et al, 2012 ). This dense desmoplastic microenvironment promotes tumor progression and metastasis, and it correlates with poor prognosis in cancer patients ( Provenzano et al, 2008 ; Conklin and Keely, 2012 ).…”

The evolution of collagen expression in sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma

“…In poorly differentiated ovarian cystadenocarcinoma, intracytoplasmic expression of type I procollagen has been reported [31], whereas uterine carcinosarcoma has been shown to express newly formed type I collagen in the cytoplasm of tumor cells [32]. These cells also can express cytokeratin, and this suggests, as in renal SC, that high-grade epithelial malignancies showing sarcomatoid change develop the ability to synthesize and assemble collagen within the cytoplasm.…”