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Updated: Jun 27, 2026

Monitoring Functionality and Morphology of Vasculature Recruited by Factors Secreted by Fast-growing Tumor-generating Cells
Published on: November 23, 2014
Overexpression of the angiogenic tetrapeptide AcSDKP in human malignant tumors
Jian-Miao Liu1, Michal Kusinski, Vesna Ilic
1Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Avenue de la Terrasse, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
Background:
The natural tetrapeptide acetyl-Ser-Asp-Lys-Pro (AcSDKP), generated from thymosin beta4 following its cleavage by prolyl oligopeptidase (POP), is a physiological stimulator of angiogenesis. Because of the critical role of neovascularisation in tumor development, the expression of AcSDKP and the activity of POP were examined in different human solid malignancies.
Materials And Methods:
The expression of AcSDKP and the activity of POP were evaluated in human blood samples and tissue specimens of thyroid goiter and thyroid papillary carcinoma as well as in commercial cancer tissue microarray.
Results:
A significantly increased concentration of AcSDKP in intratumoral blood and enhanced tissular activity of POP were detected in cancer patients. The expression of AcSDKP in human breast, colon, head and neck, kidney, lung, skin, ovary and prostate cancer tissues was shown to be greater than that in normal tissues.
Conclusion:
AcSDKP and POP contribute to the malignant phenotype and these molecules are potentiel markers of cancer.
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