Abstract
Metastasis follows the inappropriate activation of a genetic programme termed invasive growth, which is a physiological process that occurs during embryonic development and post-natal organ regeneration. Burgeoning evidence indicates that invasive growth is also executed by stem and progenitor cells, and is usurped by cancer stem cells. The MET proto-oncogene, which is expressed in both stem and cancer cells, is a key regulator of invasive growth. Recent findings indicate that the MET tyrosine-kinase receptor is a sensor of adverse microenvironmental conditions (such as hypoxia) and drives cell invasion and metastasis through the transcriptional activation of a set of genes that control blood coagulation.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Livio Trusolino for the critical reading of the manuscript and Antonella Cignetto for excellent assistance. The work from the authors' laboratory is supported by research grants awarded by AIRC (Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro), and by the Foundations CRT and Compagnia di San Paolo.
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Boccaccio, C., Comoglio, P. Invasive growth: a MET-driven genetic programme for cancer and stem cells. Nat Rev Cancer 6, 637â645 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc1912
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc1912
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