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J. Cell Biol.,
Volume 140, Number 6, March 23, 1998 1535-1541




* Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut National
de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Université Louis Pasteur, BP 163, 67404 Illkirch Cedex, C.U. de Strasbourg, France; Stromelysin-3 (ST3; Basset, P., J.P. Bellocq,
C. Wolf, I. Stoll, P. Hutin, J.M. Limacher, O.L.
Podhajcer, M.P. Chenard, M.C. Rio, P. Chambon. 1990. Nature. 348:699-704) is a matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) expressed in mesenchymal cells located close to
epithelial cells, during physiological and pathological
tissue remodeling processes. In human carcinomas,
high ST3 levels are associated with a poor clinical outcome, suggesting that ST3 plays a role during malignant
processes. In this study we report the ST3 gene inactivation by homologous recombination. Although ST3
null mice (ST3
Laboratoire de Biologie des Tumeurs et du Développement, University of Liège, 4000 Sart-Tilman, Liège, Belgium; and
Service d'Anatomie Pathologique Générale, Hôpital de Hautepierre, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, 67098 Strasbourg
Cedex, France
/
) were fertile and did not exhibit obvious alterations in appearance and behavior, the lack of
ST3 altered malignant processes. Thus, the suppression
of ST3 results in a decreased 7,12-dimethylbenzanthracene-induced tumorigenesis in ST3
/
mice. Moreover, ST3
/
fibroblasts have lost the capacity to promote implantation of MCF7 human malignant
epithelial cells in nude mice (P < 0.008). Finally, we
show that this ST3 paracrine function requires extracellular matrix (ECM)-associated growth factors. Altogether, these findings give evidence that ST3 promotes,
in a paracrine manner, homing of malignant epithelial
cells, a key process for both primary tumors and metastases. Therefore, ST3 represents an appropriate target for specific MMP inhibitor(s) in future therapeutical approaches directed against the stromal
compartment of human carcinomas.
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