Definition
The plasminogen-activating system (PAS) consists of two immunologically distinct serine proteases, the urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) and the tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA); their specific inhibitors, the plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) and 2 (PAI-2) and the protease nexin-1 (PN-1), which belong to the serine protease inhibitor superfamily of serpins; and the glycolipid-anchored cell membrane receptor for the uPA. The two plasminogen activators convert, in the extracellular environment, the proenzyme plasminogen into the serine protease plasmin. The latter is involved in fibrin degradation during clot lysis and in a number of physiological and pathological processes requiring basement membrane (BM) and/or extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling, such as wound healing, mammary gland development and its postlactational involution, tissue regeneration, angiogenesis, tumor progression, and metastasization (Fig. 1). Besides fibrin, in fact, plasmin may...
Keywords
- Hepatocyte Growth Factor
- uPAR Expression
- Human Epidermoid Carcinoma Cell Line
- Serine Protease Plasmin
- Postlactational Involution
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
References
Blasi F, Carmeliet P (2002) uPAR: a versatile signalling orchestrator. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 3:932–943
Choong PFM, Nadesapillai APW (2003) Urokinase plasminogen activator system: a multifunctional role in tumor progression and metastasis. Clin Orthop Relat Res 415S:S46–S58
de Bock CE, Wang Y (2003) Clinical significance of urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) expression in cancer. Med Res Rev 24:13–39
Duffy MJ (2004) The urokinase plasminogen activator system: role in malignancy. Curr Pharm Des 10:39–49
Madsen CD, Ferraris GM, Andolfo A, Cunningham O, Sidenius N (2007) uPAR-induced cell adhesion and migration: vitronectin provides the key. J Cell Biol 177:927–939
Noh H, Hong S, Huang S (2013) Role of urokinase receptor in tumor progression and development. Theranostics 3:487–495
Rockway TW, Nienaber V, Giranda VL (2002) Inhibitors of protease domain of urokinase-type plasminogen activator. Curr Pharm Des 8:2541–2558
Schuliga M, Westall G, Xia Y, Stewart AG (2013) The plasminogen activation system: new targets in lung inflammation and remodeling. Curr Opin Pharmacol 13:386–393
Smith HW, Marshall CJ (2010) Regulation of cell signalling by uPAR. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 11:23–36
Ulisse S, Baldini E, Sorrenti S, D’Armiento M (2009) The urokinase plasminogen activator system: a target for anti-cancer therapy. Curr Cancer Drug Targets 9:32–71
See Also
(2012) Extracellular Matrix. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg, p 1362. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_2067
(2012) MAPK. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg, p 2167. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_3532
(2012) P53. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg, p 2747. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_4331
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this entry
Cite this entry
Ulisse, S., Baldini, E., Bocchini, S., D’Armiento, M. (2014). Plasminogen-Activating System. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_4605-2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_4605-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27841-9
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences