Crosstalk between apoptosis and antioxidants in melanoma vasculogenic mimicry

The concept of "vasculogenic mimicry" (VM) was introduced to describe the unique ability of highly aggressive tumor cells to form capillary-like structure (CLS) and matrix-rich patterned network in three-dimensional cultures that mimic embryonic vasculogenic network. Here, we provide the experimental evidence that CLS structure formation requires apoptotic cell death through activation of caspase-dependent mechanism. Our results indicate that the formation of CLS is also related to the reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels.