Trevigen Inc., Gaithersburg, MD, USA.
Int J Cancer. 2011 Apr 15;128(8):1751-7. doi: 10.1002/ijc.25781.
Significant advances in our understanding of cancer cell behavior, growth, and metastasis have been facilitated by studies using a basement membrane-like extracellular matrix extract, also known as Matrigel. The basement membrane is a thin extracellular matrix that is found in normal tissues and contacts epithelial and endothelial cells, smooth muscle, fat, Schwann cells, etc. It is composed of mainly laminin-111, collagen IV, heparan sulfate proteoglycan, entactin/nidogen, and various growth factors (fibroblast growth factor, transforming growth factor beta, epidermal growth factor, etc.). Most tumors of epithelial origin produce significant amounts of basement membrane matrix and interact with it particularly during metastasis. Cancer cells metastasize via degradation of the vessel basement membrane matrix to extravasate into the blood stream and colonize distant sites. This review will focus on the interaction of cancer cells and cancer stem cells with the basement membrane-like matrix and the various uses of this interaction to accelerate tumor growth in vivo and to develop in vitro assays for invasion, morphology, and dormancy. Such assays and methods have advanced our understanding of the process of cancer progression, the genes and pathways that are involved, the potential of various therapeutic agents, the effects of neighboring cells, and the role of stem cells.
通过使用基底膜样细胞外基质提取物（也称为 Matrigel）进行的研究，促进了我们对癌细胞行为、生长和转移的理解。基底膜是一种存在于正常组织中的薄细胞外基质，与上皮细胞和内皮细胞、平滑肌、脂肪、施万细胞等接触。它主要由层粘连蛋白-111、胶原 IV、硫酸乙酰肝素蛋白聚糖、entactin/nidogen 和各种生长因子（成纤维细胞生长因子、转化生长因子β、表皮生长因子等）组成。大多数上皮来源的肿瘤会产生大量基底膜基质，并在转移过程中与它特别相互作用。癌细胞通过降解血管基底膜基质转移到血液中，并在远处定植。这篇综述将重点介绍癌细胞和癌症干细胞与基底膜样基质的相互作用，以及这种相互作用在加速体内肿瘤生长和开发侵袭、形态和休眠的体外检测方面的各种用途。这些检测和方法推进了我们对癌症进展过程、涉及的基因和途径、各种治疗剂的潜力、相邻细胞的影响以及干细胞作用的理解。
