A. Bartolazzi et al., TRANSFORMATION AND TUMOR PROGRESSION ARE FREQUENTLY ASSOCIATED WITH EXPRESSION OF THE ALPHA(3) BETA(1) HETERODIMER IN SOLID TUMORS/, International journal of cancer, 58(4), 1994, pp. 488-491
The ability of tumor cells to interact with the extracellular matrix (
ECM) is functionally mediated by a variety of receptor molecules among
which the integrins are a well-characterized family of mediators. In
this study we have investigated immunohistochemically the in vivo expr
ession of the alpha(3)/beta(1) promiscuous receptor for ECM constituen
ts in a variety of human solid malignancies. Although the receptor app
ears to undergo changes in distribution patterns, its expression is ma
intained in a high percentage of primary (76%) and metastatic (82%) tu
mors. Furthermore, the comparative immunohistochemical evaluation of a
lpha(3)/beta(1) and its ligands, in a selected number of tumors of dif
ferent histotypes, demonstrated that the expression of this integrin c
orrelated with the presence of at least one ligand, either around nest
s of neoplastic cells or at the epithelial-stromal interface. The high
ly conserved expression of alpha(3)/beta(1) shown in this study sugges
ts that this receptor may play a role in tumor growth at the primary a
s well as the metastatic site. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.