Institute of Immunology, Witten/Herdecke University, Stockumer Str. 10, 58448 Witten, Germany.
Cell Commun Signal. 2009 Dec 23;7:27. doi: 10.1186/1478-811X-7-27.
Adipose tissue is no longer considered to be solely an energy storage, but exerts important endocrine functions, which are primarily mediated by a network of various soluble factors derived from fat cells, called adipocytokines. In addition to their responsibility to influence energy homeostasis, new studies have identified important pathways linking metabolism with the immune system, and demonstrating a modulatory role of adipocytokines in immune function. Additionally, epidemiological studies underline that obesity represents a significant risk factor for the development of cancer, although the exact mechanism of this relationship remains to be determined. Whereas a possible influence of adipocytokines on the proliferation of tumor cells is already known, new evidence has come to light elucidating a modulatory role of this signaling substances in the regulation of migration of leukocytes and tumor cells. The migration of leukocytes is a key feature to fight cancer cells, whereas the locomotion of tumor cells is a prerequisite for tumor formation and metastasis. We herein review the latest tumor biological findings on the role of the most prominent adipocytokines leptin and adiponectin, which are secreted by fat cells, and which are involved in leukocyte migration, tumor growth, invasion and metastasis. This review thus accentuates the complex, interactive involvement of adipocytokines in the regulation of migration of both leukocytes and tumor cells, and gives an insight in the underlying molecular mechanisms.
脂肪组织不再被认为仅仅是能量储存器，而是发挥着重要的内分泌功能，主要通过源自脂肪细胞的各种可溶性因子网络来介导，这些因子被称为脂肪细胞因子。除了负责影响能量平衡外，新的研究还确定了将代谢与免疫系统联系起来的重要途径，并证明了脂肪细胞因子在免疫功能中的调节作用。此外，流行病学研究强调肥胖是癌症发展的一个重要危险因素，尽管这种关系的确切机制仍有待确定。虽然已经知道脂肪细胞因子可能会影响肿瘤细胞的增殖，但新的证据表明，这种信号物质在调节白细胞和肿瘤细胞迁移方面具有调节作用。白细胞的迁移是对抗癌细胞的关键特征，而肿瘤细胞的运动是肿瘤形成和转移的前提。本文综述了脂肪细胞因子瘦素和脂联素在肿瘤生物学中的最新研究发现，这两种脂肪细胞因子参与白细胞迁移、肿瘤生长、侵袭和转移。因此，本文强调了脂肪细胞因子在调节白细胞和肿瘤细胞迁移中的复杂、相互作用的参与，并深入了解了潜在的分子机制。
