VE-cadherin-independent cancer cell incorporation into the vascular endothelium precedes transmigration.

ABSTRACT: Metastasis is accountable for 90% of cancer deaths. During metastasis, tumor cells break away from the primary tumor, enter the blood and the lymph vessels, and use them as highways to travel to distant sites in the body to form secondary tumors. Cancer cell migration through the endothelium and into the basement membrane represents a critical step in the metastatic cascade, yet it is not well understood. This process is well characterized for immune cells that routinely transmigrate through the endothelium to sites of infection, inflammation, or injury. Previous studies with leukocytes have demonstrated that this step depends heavily on the activation status of the endothelium and subendothelial substrate stiffness. Here, we used a previously established in vitro model of the endothelium

SUBMITTER: Hamilla SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4183660 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature