Receptor "hijacking" by malignant glioma cells: a tactic for tumor progression.

Abstract

Gliomas are the most common and deadly tumors in the central nervous system (CNS). In the course of studying the role of chemoattractant receptors in tumor growth and metastasis, we discovered that highly malignant human glioblastoma and anaplastic astrocytoma specimens were stained positively for the formylpeptide receptor (FPR), which is normally expressed in myeloid cells and accounts for their chemotaxis and activation induced by bacterial peptides. Screening of human glioma cell lines revealed that FPR was expressed selectively in glioma cell lines with a more highly malignant phenotype. FPR expressed in glioblastoma cell lines mediates cell chemotaxis, proliferation and production of an angiogenic factor, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), in response to agonists released by necrotic tumor cells. Furthermore, FPR in glioblastoma cells activates the receptor for epidermal growth factor (EGFR) by increasing the phosphorylation of a selected tyrosine residue in the intracellular tail of EGFR. Thus, FPR hijacked by human glioblastoma cells exploits the function of EGFR to promote rapid tumor progression.

• Authors: Jian Huang, Keqiang Chen, Wanghua Gong, Ye Zhou, Yingying Le, Xiuwu Bian, Ji Ming Wang
• Journal: Cancer letters (Cancer Lett) Vol. 267 Issue 2 Pg. 254-61 (Aug 28 2008) ISSN: 1872-7980 [Electronic] Ireland
• PMID: 18433988 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural, Review)

Chemical References

• Receptors, Formyl Peptide
• ErbB Receptors

Topics

• Animals
• Central Nervous System Neoplasms (metabolism, pathology)
• ErbB Receptors (agonists, metabolism)
• Glioma (metabolism, pathology)
• Humans
• Mice
• Phosphorylation
• Receptors, Formyl Peptide (metabolism)