Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
Nat Rev Cancer. 2010 Mar;10(3):165-80. doi: 10.1038/nrc2806.
The Eph receptor tyrosine kinases and their ephrin ligands have intriguing expression patterns in cancer cells and tumour blood vessels, which suggest important roles for their bidirectional signals in many aspects of cancer development and progression. Eph gene mutations probably also contribute to cancer pathogenesis. Eph receptors and ephrins have been shown to affect the growth, migration and invasion of cancer cells in culture as well as tumour growth, invasiveness, angiogenesis and metastasis in vivo. However, Eph signalling activities in cancer seem to be complex, and are characterized by puzzling dichotomies. Nevertheless, the Eph receptors are promising new therapeutic targets in cancer.
Eph 受体酪氨酸激酶及其配体在癌细胞和肿瘤血管中的表达模式非常有趣,这表明它们的双向信号在癌症发生和发展的许多方面都起着重要作用。Eph 基因突变也可能导致癌症的发病机制。研究表明,Eph 受体和 Ephrins 可以影响培养中的癌细胞的生长、迁移和侵袭,以及体内肿瘤的生长、侵袭、血管生成和转移。然而,Eph 信号在癌症中的作用似乎很复杂,并表现出令人费解的二分法。尽管如此,Eph 受体仍是癌症治疗的一个很有前途的新靶点。