Platelets and tumor cells: a new form of border control - PubMed (original) (raw)

Platelets and tumor cells: a new form of border control

Ben Z Stanger et al. Cancer Cell. 2013.

Abstract

Tumor metastasis is the primary cause of death due to cancer, but the mechanisms by which tumor cells metastasize remain incompletely understood. In this issue of Cancer Cell, Schumacher and colleagues suggest that ATP released from tumor-associated platelets in the blood facilitates tumor metastasis by relaxing endothelial barrier function.

Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Figure 1

Figure 1. Tumor cell metastasis is facilitated by platelet-derived ATP

Circulating tumor cells associate with and activate blood platelets. Tumor-associated platelets release ATP from their dense granules, which acts on endothelial P2Y2 receptors to relax endothelial cell junctions, thereby enabling tumor cells to successfully exit the bloodstream and enter the tissue to form a new metastasis. (Figure courtesy of Dr. Stefan Offermanns and colleagues (reproduced from the online graphical abstract of Schumacher et al., 2013, http://www…).

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