Review
Nature Reviews Cancer 9, 40-55 (January 2009) | doi:10.1038/nrc2543
Tetraspanins: push and pull in suppressing and promoting metastasis
Margot Zöller1 About the author
Abstract
Tumours progress through a cascade of events that enable the formation of metastases. Some of the components that are required for this fatal process are well established. Tetraspanins, however, have only recently received attention as both metastasis suppressors and metastasis promoters. This late appreciation is probably due to their capacity to associate with various molecules, which they recruit into special membrane microdomains, and their abundant presence in tumour-derived small vesicles that aid intercellular communication. It is reasonable to assume that differences in the membrane and vesicular web components that associate with individual tetraspanins account for their differing abilities to promote and suppress metastasis.
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Author affiliations
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Department of Tumour Cell Biology, University Hospital of Surgery, and Department of Tumour Progression and Immune Defense, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Department of Applied Genetics, University of Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany.
Email: m.zoeller@dkfz.de
Published online 11 December 2008
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RESEARCH
Analysis of the γ-secretase interactome and validation of its association with tetraspanin-enriched microdomainsNature Cell Biology Letter (01 Nov 2009)
