Tie2-expressing monocytes and tumor angiogenesis: regulation by hypoxia and angiopoietin-2.
review · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 17875679.
- No licence information is recorded for this record.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
Recent findings indicate that tumor-associated macrophages are important drivers of tumor angiogenesis. Here, we review the essential role played by Tie2-expressing monocytes (TEM) in this phenomenon. TEMs are present in human blood and tumors and their elimination in various tumor models suppresses tumor angiogenesis. A ligand for Tie2, angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2), is produced by angiogenic tumor vessels and is a chemoattractant for TEMs. Hypoxia up-regulates Tie2 expression on TEMs and, together with Ang-2, down-regulates their antitumor functions. Learning more about the regulation of TEMs by the tumor microenvironment may yield new strategies to ablate the tumor vasculature.
Medical subject headings
- Angiopoietin-2
- Monocytes
- Neoplasms
- Receptor, TIE-2