Extracellular heat shock protein (Hsp)70 and Hsp90α assist in matrix metalloproteinase-2 activation and breast cancer cell migration and invasion.

ABSTRACT: Breast cancer is second only to lung cancer in cancer-related deaths in women, and the majority of these deaths are caused by metastases. Obtaining a better understanding of migration and invasion, two early steps in metastasis, is critical for the development of treatments that inhibit breast cancer metastasis. In a functional proteomic screen for proteins required for invasion, extracellular heat shock protein 90 alpha (Hsp90α) was identified and shown to activate matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP-2). The mechanism of MMP-2 activation by Hsp90α is unknown. Intracellular Hsp90α commonly functions with a complex of co-chaperones, leading to our hypothesis that Hsp90α functions similarly outside of the cell. In this study, we show that a complex of co-chaperones outside of breast cancer cells

SUBMITTER: Sims JD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3077417 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature