Jeong Hyo Min, Cho Sun Wook, Park Serk In
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
The BK21 Plus Program, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Endocrinol Metab (Seoul). 2016 Dec;31(4):485-492. doi: 10.3803/EnM.2016.31.4.485.
The tumor microenvironment is comprised of diverse stromal cell populations in addition to tumor cells. Increasing evidence now clearly supports the role of microenvironment stromal cells in tumor progression and metastasis, yet the regulatory mechanisms and interactions among tumor and stromal cells remain to be elucidated. Bone metastasis is the major problem in many types of human malignancies including prostate, breast and lung cancers, and the biological basis of bone metastasis let alone curative approaches are largely undetermined. Among the many types of stromal cells in bone, osteoblasts are shown to be an important player. In this regard, osteoblasts are a key target cell type in the development of bone metastasis, but there are currently no drugs or therapeutic approaches are available that specifically target osteoblasts. This review paper summarizes the current knowledge on osteoblasts in the metastatic tumor microenvironment, aiming to provide clues and directions for future research endeavor.
肿瘤微环境除肿瘤细胞外还由多种基质细胞群组成。越来越多的证据明确支持微环境基质细胞在肿瘤进展和转移中的作用，然而肿瘤细胞与基质细胞之间的调控机制和相互作用仍有待阐明。骨转移是包括前列腺癌、乳腺癌和肺癌在内的多种人类恶性肿瘤的主要问题，骨转移的生物学基础乃至治疗方法在很大程度上尚未明确。在骨中的多种基质细胞类型中，成骨细胞被证明是一个重要角色。在这方面，成骨细胞是骨转移发展中的关键靶细胞类型，但目前尚无专门针对成骨细胞的药物或治疗方法。本文综述总结了转移性肿瘤微环境中有关成骨细胞的现有知识，旨在为未来的研究工作提供线索和方向。
