Flug M, Köpf-Maier P
Institut für Anatomie, Freie Universität Berlin, Deutschland.
Acta Anat (Basel). 1995;152(2):69-84.
During the development of invasive cancer, carcinoma cells have to penetrate the extracellular matrix including the basement membrane (BM). This is a usually continuous layer composed of a dense meshwork of collagens, glycoproteins and proteoglycans. It normally underlies epithelia and lacks any pores large enough to allow epithelial cells to pass through them. In consequence, the invasion of carcinoma cells through the BM must be either an active process effected by the carcinoma cells themselves or is mediated by structural alterations of the BM occurring during carcinogenesis and cancer progression. It was supposed by many authors that invading and metastasizing carcinoma cells are able to degrade actively the continuous, uninterrupted BM by secreting type IV collagenase and other proteolytic enzymes. Although there is a wealth of experimental evidence which fits the concept that the active degradation of the BM is an essential requirement for carcinoma cell invasion and metastasis, certain data do not agree with this hypothesis. Thus, it is still doubtful whether active lysis of the BM by carcinoma cells is actually a prerequisite for invasion and metastasis or whether there are alternative and/or additional mechanisms favoring the invasion of carcinoma cells.
在浸润性癌的发展过程中，癌细胞必须穿透包括基底膜（BM）在内的细胞外基质。基底膜通常是一层连续的结构，由胶原蛋白、糖蛋白和蛋白聚糖组成的致密网络构成。它通常位于上皮组织下方，没有足够大的孔隙允许上皮细胞通过。因此，癌细胞穿过基底膜的过程必定要么是癌细胞自身的主动过程，要么是在致癌作用和癌症进展过程中基底膜发生结构改变所介导的过程。许多作者认为，侵袭和转移的癌细胞能够通过分泌IV型胶原酶和其他蛋白水解酶来主动降解连续、完整的基底膜。尽管有大量实验证据支持基底膜的主动降解是癌细胞侵袭和转移的必要条件这一概念，但某些数据并不支持这一假说。因此，癌细胞对基底膜的主动溶解是否实际上是侵袭和转移的先决条件，或者是否存在有利于癌细胞侵袭的替代和/或额外机制，仍然存在疑问。
