Harjunpää H, Llort Asens M, Guenther C, Fagerholm SC, et al.
Frontiers in immunology. Date of publication 2019 May 22;volume 10():1078.
1. Front Immunol. 2019 May 22;10:1078. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.01078. eCollection
2019.
Cell Adhesion Molecules and Their Roles and Regulation in the Immune and Tumor
Microenvironment.
Harjunpää H(1), Llort Asens M(1), Guenther C(1), Fagerholm SC(1).
Author information:
(1)Research Program of Molecular and Integrative Biosciences, Faculty of Bio- and
Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
The immune system and cancer have a complex relationship with the immune system
playing a dual role in tumor development. The effector cells of the immune system
can recognize and kill malignant cells while immune system-mediated inflammation
can also promote tumor growth and regulatory cells suppress the anti-tumor
responses. In the center of all anti-tumor responses is the ability of the immune
cells to migrate to the tumor site and to interact with each other and with the
malignant cells. Cell adhesion molecules including receptors of the
immunoglobulin superfamily and integrins are of crucial importance in mediating
these processes. Particularly integrins play a vital role in regulating all
aspects of immune cell function including immune cell trafficking into tissues,
effector cell activation and proliferation and the formation of the immunological
synapse between immune cells or between immune cell and the target cell both
during homeostasis and during inflammation and cancer. In this review we discuss
the molecular mechanisms regulating integrin function and the role of integrins
and other cell adhesion molecules in immune responses and in the tumor
microenvironment. We also describe how malignant cells can utilize cell adhesion
molecules to promote tumor growth and metastases and how these molecules could be
targeted in cancer immunotherapy.
DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.01078
PMCID: PMC6558418
PMID: 31231358 [Indexed for MEDLINE]
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