Studies on the expression of alpha v beta 3 integrin receptors in non-malignant and malignant human cervical tumor tissues

Integrins are group of cell surface receptors, which mediate adhesion betwe en cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix proteins of the basement membran e. Integrins play an important role in cellular growth, development, morpho logy, signalling and also in tumor development. Among the integrin group of cell surface receptors one of the most important member is alphav beta3 in tegrin receptor. Evidences say that the expression of this integrin recepto r is regulated during tumor development. Large numbers of studies have been done to establish the role of alphav beta3 integrin receptor in human mela noma systems. Expression of this receptor in metastatic but not benign mela nomas suggests a role for this integrin in the regulation of tumor prolifer ation. alphav beta3 integrin receptor also plays a significant role in tumo r angiogenesis, apoptosis and signal transduction process. Recent studies s how that collagenase MMP-2 binds directly to integrin alphav beta3 on the s urface of invasive tumor cells and facilitates tumor cell invasion. In this present communication we studied the expression of alphav beta3 integrin r eceptor in malignant and nonmalignant cervical tumor tissues. Because recep tor ligand interaction is a cell surface phenomenon the membrane fraction o f tumor tissues was separated and the expression of alphav beta3 integrin r eceptor was assayed by ELISA and immunoprecipitation from membrane extracte d protein fraction. Comparative ELISA and immunoprecipitation clearly demon strates much higher expression of alpha vp3 beta vitronectin integrin recep tor in the membrane fraction of malignant human cervical tumor tissues than nonmalignant tissue membrane fractions.