Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Heteromulticellular Stromal Cells in Scaffold-free 3D Cultures of Epithelial Cancer Cells to Drive Invasion
Published on: April 4, 2025
A secreted form of ADAM9 promotes carcinoma invasion through tumor-stromal interactions
Antonio Mazzocca1, Roberto Coppari, Raffaella De Franco
1Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
Abstract:
Tumor cell invasion is a process regulated by integrins, matrix-degrading enzymes, and interactions with host tissue stromal cells. The ADAM family of proteins plays an important role in modulating various cellular responses. Here, we show that an alternatively spliced variant of ADAM9 is secreted by hepatic stellate cells and promotes carcinoma invasion. ADAM9-S induced a highly invasive phenotype in several human tumor cell lines in Matrigel assays, and the protease activity of ADAM9-S was required for invasion. ADAM9-S binds directly to alpha6beta4 and alpha2beta1 integrins on the surface of colon carcinoma cells through the disintegrin domain. ADAM9-S was also able to cleave laminin and promote invasion. Analysis of human liver metastases revealed that ADAM9 is expressed by stromal liver myofibroblasts, particularly those that are localized within the tumor stroma at the invasive front. These results emphasize the importance of tumor-stromal interactions in invasion and suggest that ADAM9-S can be an important determinant in the ability of cancer cells to invade and colonize the liver.
More Related Videos
09:52A Mimic of the Tumor Microenvironment: A Simple Method for Generating Enriched Cell Populations and Investigating Intercellular Communication
Published on: September 20, 2016
15:43Experimental Generation of Carcinoma-Associated Fibroblasts (CAFs) from Human Mammary Fibroblasts
Published on: October 25, 2011
Related Concept Videos
The Tumor Microenvironment
Cancer Cell Migration through Invadopodia
Metastasis
Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition
The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition or EMT is a developmental process commonly observed in wound healing, embryogenesis, and cancer metastasis. EMT is induced by transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) or receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) ligands, which further...
Cadherins in Tissue Organization
Cell Sorting During Development
Cell sorting plays an...
Abnormal Proliferation