AUTOCRINE MOTILITY FACTOR AND ITS RECEPTOR EXPRESSIONS IN HUMAN ORAL SQUAMOUS-CELL CARCINOMA (SCC) CELLS

Autocrine motility factor (AMF) a tumor-secreted 55 kDa cytokine induc es tumor cell motility by a signal transduction pathway mediated by in teraction with its receptor (AMFR) a cell surface glycoprotein of 78 k Da (gp78). Here, AMF secreted by the metastatic LMF4 human oral squamo us-cell carcinoma (SCC) cells, induced dose- and time-dependent morpho logical changes and chemotaxis of the producing cells. Expression of A MFR mRNA was associated with the metastatic ability of SCC cell varian ts. The data presented show for the first time that SCC cells produce AMF and express AMFR and the expression is related to their invasivene ss and metastatic potentials.