Advances in Eph receptor and its ligand Ephrin in tumor metastasis / 肿瘤

ABSTRACT

Tumor angiogenesis plays an important role in tumor metastasis. In recent years, many studies found that erythropoietin-producing hepatocellular (Eph) receptor and its ligand Ephrin plays an important role in vascular remodeling and angiogenesis in early embryonic stage. The bi-directional signaling of Eph/Ephrin can modulate the morphology and function of tumor cells, and influence the angiogenesis of tumor, thus affecting the invasion and metastasis of tumor cells. The expression levels of Eph and Ephrin can be used as biomarkers to assess the malignant degree of tumor and predict the prognosis of cancer patients, which make the Eph/Ephrin signaling pathway become a potential target for cancer treatment.