Molecular Signatures Associated With Lymph Node Metastasis Of Mouse Hepatocarcinoma Cell Lines Identified By Gene Profiling And Divergent Roles For Caveolin-1 In Lymphatic Metastasis

Most deaths from cancer are due to metastasis. To investigate the molecular mechanisms of tumor metastasis are the urgent issues in the field of oncology research. There are many manners for tumor metastasis, such as direct dissemination, lymph node metastasis and blood metastasis. Lymph node metastasis often represents the first step in the metastasis process and occurs before blood metastasis. Inhibiting lymphatic metastasis is a key step to control tumor. It is generally accepted that various genes are involved in the complex process of tumor lymphatic metastasis. Researchers are looking forwards to find new target to control lymph node metastasis.Traditional gene analysis could only investigate one or a few genes at a time, hardly explaining the complex process of oncogenesis and metastasis completely. Since 1995, the development of gene chip technology, a new type of high-density analysis for gene expression , has opened a new era in tumor field. cDNA microarray technology is a powerful method in screening for differentially expressed genes.Caveolin-1 is the major component protein of caveolae and associated with a lot of cellular events such as endocytosis, cholesterol homeostasis, signal transduction and tumorigenesis. Evidence has accumulated suggesting that caveolin-1 might act as a tumor suppressor. Down-regulation of caveolin-1 has been found in various cancer types, including human breast, lung, colon and ovarian carcinomas. It seems that the loss of caveolin-1 leads to a poorly controlled cell growth. But this idea has been controversial because caveolin-1 over-expression is seen in some...