TY - JOUR
T1 - Understanding the roles of growth factors in carcinogenesis
T2 - Modulation of autocrine growth control by differentiation
AU - Rizzino, A.
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2004 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 1993
Y1 - 1993
N2 - It is widely believed that abnormal proliferation of tumor cells is due, at least in part, to the production of autocrine growth factors that are not produced by their normal counterparts. However, direct support for this belief is seriously lacking. The normal counterparts of the vast majority of tumor cells have not been identified adequately and, thus, the growth factors produced by the normal counterparts of tumor cells have not been described. This review summarizes the remarkable similarity in the types of growth factors and growth factor receptors produced by early mouse embryos and by mouse embryonal carcinoma cells, the stem cells of teratocarcinomas. Based on these similarities and the likelihood that embryonal carcinoma cells are derived from the totipotent cells of the mammalian embryo, it is argued that there is reason to suspect that ectopic production of growth factors is not a major cause of tumor induction and tumor growth. It is further proposed that differentiation under normal conditions can limit autonomous cell proliferation by shifting cells from a population that produces growth stimulatory factors to cell types that produce growth inhibitory factors instead. Consequently, blocks in differentiation may lead to tumor growth by maintaining the production of growth stimulatory autocrine factors.
AB - It is widely believed that abnormal proliferation of tumor cells is due, at least in part, to the production of autocrine growth factors that are not produced by their normal counterparts. However, direct support for this belief is seriously lacking. The normal counterparts of the vast majority of tumor cells have not been identified adequately and, thus, the growth factors produced by the normal counterparts of tumor cells have not been described. This review summarizes the remarkable similarity in the types of growth factors and growth factor receptors produced by early mouse embryos and by mouse embryonal carcinoma cells, the stem cells of teratocarcinomas. Based on these similarities and the likelihood that embryonal carcinoma cells are derived from the totipotent cells of the mammalian embryo, it is argued that there is reason to suspect that ectopic production of growth factors is not a major cause of tumor induction and tumor growth. It is further proposed that differentiation under normal conditions can limit autonomous cell proliferation by shifting cells from a population that produces growth stimulatory factors to cell types that produce growth inhibitory factors instead. Consequently, blocks in differentiation may lead to tumor growth by maintaining the production of growth stimulatory autocrine factors.
KW - autocrine growth control
KW - differentiation
KW - embryonal carcinoma cells
KW - growth factors
KW - mammalian embryos
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M3 - Short survey
C2 - 8389580
AN - SCOPUS:0027204970
VL - 37
SP - 61
EP - 65
JO - International Journal of Developmental Biology
JF - International Journal of Developmental Biology
SN - 0214-6282
IS - 1
ER -