Zöller Margot
Department of Tumour Cell Biology, University Hospital of Surgery, Heidelberg, Germany.
Nat Rev Cancer. 2009 Jan;9(1):40-55. doi: 10.1038/nrc2543. Epub 2008 Dec 11.
Tumours progress through a cascade of events that enable the formation of metastases. Some of the components that are required for this fatal process are well established. Tetraspanins, however, have only recently received attention as both metastasis suppressors and metastasis promoters. This late appreciation is probably due to their capacity to associate with various molecules, which they recruit into special membrane microdomains, and their abundant presence in tumour-derived small vesicles that aid intercellular communication. It is reasonable to assume that differences in the membrane and vesicular web components that associate with individual tetraspanins account for their differing abilities to promote and suppress metastasis.
肿瘤通过一系列事件进展，这些事件促成转移灶的形成。这一致命过程所需的一些成分已为人熟知。然而，四跨膜蛋白直到最近才作为转移抑制因子和转移促进因子受到关注。这种较晚的认识可能是由于它们能够与各种分子结合，将这些分子招募到特殊的膜微结构域中，以及它们在肿瘤来源的小囊泡中大量存在，这些小囊泡有助于细胞间通讯。可以合理推测，与单个四跨膜蛋白相关的膜和囊泡网络成分的差异，解释了它们促进和抑制转移的不同能力。
