[Assay and detection methods for urokinase-type plasminogen activator and its related-factors]

The urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA) has been implicated in invasion and metastasis of various cancers including lung, breast, gastric and colon cancers. The u-PA system consists of plasmin, u-PA, specific u-PA receptor and the serpins, PAI-1 and PAI-2. It has been demonstrated that the reciprocal actions among the components of the u-PA system are much important for regulating u-PA activity. Recent studies are focusing on the interaction between the u-PA system and cell adhesion molecules such as integrins, and the physiological significance in vivo of u-PA system-related proteins. We introduce here the useful methods to examine the u-PA enzyme activity and the expression of proteins and genes related with the u-PA system for clinical cancer specimens.