Cancers, Vol. 16, Pages 1636: Heterocellular Adhesion in Cancer Invasion and Metastasis: Interactions between Cancer Cells and Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts

Cancers, Vol. 16, Pages 1636: Heterocellular Adhesion in Cancer Invasion and Metastasis: Interactions between Cancer Cells and Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts Cancers doi: 10.3390/cancers16091636 Authors: Hideki Yamaguchi Makoto Miyazaki Cancer invasion is a requisite for the most malignant progression of cancer, that is, metastasis. The mechanisms of cancer invasion were originally studied using in vitro cell culture systems, in which cancer cells were cultured using artificial extracellular matrices (ECMs). However, conventional culture systems do not precisely recapitulate in vivo cancer invasion because the phenotypes of cancer cells in tumor tissues are strongly affected by the tumor microenvironment (TME). Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are the most abundant cell type in the TME and accelerate cancer progression through invasion, metastasis, therapy resistance, and immune suppression. Thus, the reciprocal interactions between CAFs and cancer cells have been extensively studied, leading to the identification of factors that mediate cellular interactions, such as growth factors, cytokines, and extracellular vesicles. In addition, the importance of direct heterocellular adhesion between cancer cells and CAFs in cancer progression has recently been elucidated. In particular, CAFs are directly associated with cancer cells, allowing them to invade the ECM and metastasize to distant organs. In this review, we summarize the recent progress in understanding the mol...
Source: Cancers - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Review Source Type: research