Review
Nature Reviews Cancer 9, 195-205 (March 2009) | doi:10.1038/nrc2590
Is cancer triggered by altered signalling of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors?
Hildegard M. Schuller1 About the author
Abstract
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are the central regulators of stimulatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters that control the synthesis and release of growth, angiogenic and neurotrophic factors in cancer cells, the cancer microenvironment and distant organs. Data discussed in this Review suggests that smoking and possibly other environmental and lifestyle factors increase the function of nAChRs that stimulate cancer cells and reduce the function of nAChRs that inhibit cancer cells. This novel paradigm necessitates the development of marker-guided cancer intervention strategies that aim to restore the balance between nAChR-mediated stimulatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters and their downstream effectors.
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Author affiliations
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Experimental Oncology Laboratory, Department of Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA.
Email: hmsch@utk.edu
Published online 5 February 2009
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