Hyaluronan in Cancer Biology - 9780123741783

Hyaluronan in Cancer BiologyAuthor(s): Robert Stern\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Elsevier Science Publishing Co Inc, United States\nImprint: Academic Press Inc\nISBN-13: 9780123741783, 978-0123741783\nSynopsis\nHyaluronan biology is being recognized as an important regulator of cancer progression. Paradoxically, both hyaluronan (HA) and hyaluronidases, the enzymes that eliminate HA, have also been correlated with cancer progression. Hyaluronan, a long-chain polymer of the extracellular matrix, opens up tissue spaces through which cancer cells move and metastasize. It also confers motility upon cells through interactions of cell-surface HA with the cytoskeleton. Embryonic cells in the process of movement and proliferation use the same strategy. It is an example of how cancer cells have commandeered normal cellular processes for their own survival and spread. There are also parallels between cancer and wound healing, cancer occasionally being defined as a wound that does not heal. Th.