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Tumor invasion as dysregulated cell motility
J Kassis1, D A Lauffenburger, T Turner
1Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh VAMC, 713 Scaife Hall, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
Seminars in Cancer Biology
|April 27, 2001
Summary
Cell motility, crucial for tumor invasion, involves complex biophysical and signaling pathways. Targeting common motility processes offers a promising therapeutic strategy against cancer progression.
Area of Science:
- Cell Biology
- Biophysics
- Cancer Research
Background:
- Cell motility is fundamental to biological processes, including tumor invasion.
- Recent advances elucidate the biophysical forces, signaling, and genomic regulation of cell locomotion.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe fundamental principles of cell motility.
- To review data supporting these principles.
- To discuss the role of cell motility dysregulation in tumor invasion.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing research and data on cell motility.
- Analysis of signaling pathways, cytoskeletal components, and genomic regulation.
- Examination of specific examples of dysregulation in tumor invasion.
Main Results:
- Cell motility is a complex, coordinated process involving growth factors, integrins, cytoskeletal elements, and genomic regulation.
- Dysregulation of these components, such as altered EGF receptor signaling or integrin expression, promotes tumor invasion.
- Multiple alterations converge to drive invasion, highlighting the difficulty in targeting specific causal events.
Conclusions:
- Cell motility plays a causal role in tumor progression and invasion.
- Targeting the common underlying mechanisms of cell motility is a more viable therapeutic approach than addressing individual dysregulation points.