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Cancer cells, adipocytes and matrix metalloproteinase 11: a vicious tumor progression cycle
Elena Roza Motrescu1, Marie-Christine Rio
1Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, CNRS UMR 7104, INSERM U596, ULP, C.U. de Strasbourg, BP 10142, F-67404 Illkirch Cedex, France.
Abstract:
This brief review focuses on the emerging role of matrix metalloproteinase 11 (MMP-11) in cancer progression. It has recently been shown that MMP-11 is induced in adipose tissue by cancer cells as they invade their surrounding environment. MMP-11 negatively regulates adipogenesis by reducing pre-adipocyte differentiation and reversing mature adipocyte differentiation. Adipocyte dedifferentiation in turn leads to the accumulation of nonmalignant peritumoral fibroblast-like cells, which favor cancer cell survival and tumor progression. This MMP-11-mediated bi-directional cross-talk between invading cancer cells and adjacent adipocytes/pre-adipocytes highlights the central role that MMP-11 plays during tumor desmoplasia and represents a molecular link between obesity and cancer.
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