Cancer cells, adipocytes and matrix metalloproteinase 11: a vicious tumor progression cycle

Elena Roza Motrescu , Marie-Christine Rio (1, 2)

1 IGBMC - Institut de génétique et biologie moléculaire et cellulaire
2 IGBMC - Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire

This brief review focuses on the emerging role of matrix metalloproteinase 11 (MMP-11) in cancer progression. It has recently been shown that MMP-11 is induced in adipose tissue by cancer cells as they invade their surrounding environment. MMP-11 negatively regulates adipogenesis by reducing pre-adipocyte differentiation and reversing mature adipocyte differentiation. Adipocyte dedifferentiation in turn leads to the accumulation of nonmalignant peritumoral fibroblast-like cells, which favor cancer cell survival and tumor progression. This MMP-11-mediated bi-directional cross-talk between invading cancer cells and adjacent adipocytes/pre-adipocytes highlights the central role that MMP-11 plays during tumor desmoplasia and represents a molecular link between obesity and cancer.

Domaines: Biologie cellulaire

Elena Roza Motrescu, Marie-Christine Rio. Cancer cells, adipocytes and matrix metalloproteinase 11: a vicious tumor progression cycle. Biological Chemistry, 2008, 389 (8), pp.1037-1041. ⟨10.1515/BC.2008.110⟩. ⟨hal-04098279⟩