Chapters authored
The Role of Astrocytes in Tumor Growth and Progression
Current research is continually implicating the importance of astrocytes as active participants in neurological injury, disease, and tumor progression. This chapter will discuss some of these emerging concepts, especially as they relate to tumor biology. Astrocytes themselves can become tumorigenic, such as the case in gliomas, which often have aberrant signaling in key regulating genes of astrocyte development. Astrocytes secrete factors that maintain the tight junctions of the blood brain barrier (BBB), which in turn regulates the success or failure of metastatic cells extravasating into the brain. This astrocytic association with the brain vasculature also promotes brain tumor stem cell characteristics, which are known to be necessary for tumor initiation. Tumor cells within the brain make direct contacts with astrocytes through gap junctions, which subsequently lead to increased chemoresistance of the tumor cells. Astrocytes have also been shown to effect tumors cells via secretion of degradative enzymes, cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors, all of which have been shown to promote tumor cell proliferation, survival, and invasion. Thus, research in astrocyte biology and the role of astrocytes in the tumor microenvironment has and will likely continue to reveal novel targets for cancer intervention.
Part of the book: Astrocyte