Chemokine-chemokine receptor pathway as a tumor therapeutic target: the significance of SDF-1CXCR4 pair
Peirong Lu, Longbiao Li, and Xueguang Zhang (China)
Chemokines, a large family of chemotactic cytokines, are the major regulators of immune cell trafficking. The chemokine stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1, or CXCL12) and its cognate receptor, CXCR4 (CD184), are an important ligand-receptor pair, which play a crucial role in numerous biological processes including hematopoiesis, inflammation, angiogenesis, and cell proliferation. Moreover, accumulating evidence indicates that SDF-1-CXCR4 pair plays important roles in regulating processes essential for tumor biology. Molecular strategies aimed at inhibiting the SDF-1-CXCR4 pathway, such as small peptide CXCR4-specific antagonists, anti-CXCR4 antibodies, and small interfering RNA might therefore prevent tumor progression and metastasis. In the present Dance Round, we focus on (i) the role of the SDF-1-CXCR4 signaling in the regulation of tumor spread, growth, and vascularization, and (ii) the significance of this ligand-receptor pair as a novel therapeutic target for neoplastic disease.
Biomed Rev 2005; 16: 77-81.
Key words: cancer, CXCL12, metastasis, therapy
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Received 2 October 2005 and accepted 15 December 2005.
Correspondence and reprint requests to Dr Xueguang Zhang or Dr Peirong Lu, Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Clinical Immunology, Biotechnology Research Institute, Suzhou University, Suzhou 215007, PR China. Tel./Fax: 0086512 6521 5191,
E-mail: lupeirong@yahoo.com.hk
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