Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
Anticancer Res. 2013 Jun;33(6):2353-9.
Brain metastasis is one of the most deadly types of metastasis, frequently seen as a result of cancer spread from lung cancer, breast cancer and malignant melanoma. A key cellular structure in controlling brain metastasis is the blood-brain barrier (BBB). The BBB is known to protect metastatic tumour cells from chemotherapy and antitumor immunity. On the other hand, the BBB is also a key cellular structure which cancer cells must breach before settling in brain tissues. Tight junctions (TJs), central to the BBB, have received much attention in recent decades. There has been progress in investigating cerebral TJs and brain microvascular endothelial cells. Junctional adhesion molecules (JAMs) are transmembrane proteins within TJs and have been shown to be key to the integrity of the BBB and to play a role in controlling brain metastasis. The current article summarizes the recent progress in the regulation of JAMs in BBB TJs and the signaling pathways involved during brain metastasis.
脑转移是最致命的转移类型之一，通常是由于肺癌、乳腺癌和恶性黑色素瘤的癌症扩散引起的。控制脑转移的关键细胞结构是血脑屏障（BBB）。已知 BBB 可保护转移性肿瘤细胞免受化疗和抗肿瘤免疫的影响。另一方面，BBB 也是癌细胞在定居脑组织之前必须突破的关键细胞结构。紧密连接（TJ）是 BBB 的核心，近年来受到了广泛关注。在研究脑 TJ 和脑微血管内皮细胞方面已经取得了进展。连接黏附分子（JAMs）是 TJ 中的跨膜蛋白，已被证明对 BBB 的完整性至关重要，并在控制脑转移中发挥作用。本文总结了 BBB TJ 中 JAMs 调节以及脑转移过程中涉及的信号通路的最新进展。
