The Inhibition of Vessel Co-Option as an Emerging Strategy for Cancer Therapy
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Published:2024-01-11
Issue:2
Volume:25
Page:921
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ISSN:1422-0067
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Container-title:International Journal of Molecular Sciences
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language:en
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Short-container-title:IJMS
Author:
Carrera-Aguado Iván12ORCID,
Marcos-Zazo Laura12ORCID,
Carrancio-Salán Patricia12ORCID,
Guerra-Paes Elena12,
Sánchez-Juanes Fernando12,
Muñoz-Félix José M.12
Affiliation:
1. Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Universidad de Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
2. Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca (IBSAL), 37007 Salamanca, Spain
Abstract
Vessel co-option (VCO) is a non-angiogenic mechanism of vascularization that has been associated to anti-angiogenic therapy. In VCO, cancer cells hijack the pre-existing blood vessels and use them to obtain oxygen and nutrients and invade adjacent tissue. Multiple primary tumors and metastases undergo VCO in highly vascularized tissues such as the lungs, liver or brain. VCO has been associated with a worse prognosis. The cellular and molecular mechanisms that undergo VCO are poorly understood. Recent studies have demonstrated that co-opted vessels show a quiescent phenotype in contrast to angiogenic tumor blood vessels. On the other hand, it is believed that during VCO, cancer cells are adhered to basement membrane from pre-existing blood vessels by using integrins, show enhanced motility and a mesenchymal phenotype. Other components of the tumor microenvironment (TME) such as extracellular matrix, immune cells or extracellular vesicles play important roles in vessel co-option maintenance. There are no strategies to inhibit VCO, and thus, to eliminate resistance to anti-angiogenic therapy. This review summarizes all the molecular mechanisms involved in vessel co-option analyzing the possible therapeutic strategies to inhibit this process.
Funder
Instituto de Salud Carlos III
Fundación Científica de la Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer
Fundación General de la Universidad de Salamanca
Junta Castilla y León and European Social Fund
Subject
Inorganic Chemistry,Organic Chemistry,Physical and Theoretical Chemistry,Computer Science Applications,Spectroscopy,Molecular Biology,General Medicine,Catalysis