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Halting Neuroblastoma Metastasis by Controlling Integrin-Mediated Death
Tal Teitz, Dwayne G. Stupack and Jill M. Lahti
volume 5 | issue 7
1 april 2006Pages: 681 - 685
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Neuroblastoma, a common tumor of nervous system origin in young children, is usually detected in children only after the primary tumor has metastasized and the chances of its complete removal are low. Metastatic neuroblastoma cells commonly suppress expression of the gene encoding caspase-8. In a neuroblastoma murine model, expression of caspase-8 and integrin ?3?1 was dramatically reduced during tumor development. Analysis of clinical biopsies supported the observation that expression of both genes is low in human patients with metastatic disease. These data suggest that loss of expression of both caspase-8 and unligated integrins contribute to the survival of tumor cells migrating from the primary tumor. Integrin receptors that are unable to find appropriate ligands can form a large molecular complex containing caspase-8, explaining why cells that have diminished expression of either of these two genes have a significant survival advantage in foreign microenvironments. Thus, up-regulating expression of caspase-8 and integrins, or alternatively, antagonizing integrins within the primary tumor may be an important therapeutically in halting neuroblastoma metastasis.
We now provide open access to journal articles published online for one year or more. This article may be downloaded at the following link:
Download PDF If the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.