Downregulation of p38 MAPK signalling results in increased expression of the cytokine PTHLH, which contributes to colon cancer cell extravasation to the lung by inducing caspase-independent death in endothelial cells of the lung microvasculature.
RNA interference of endogenous PTHrP caused a significant reduction in cell adhesion of a breast cancer cell line to collagen type I, fibronectin and laminin (P<0.05) and of a colon cancer cell to collagen type I and fibronectin (P<0.05).
Since cancer cell migration, invasion, and survival are crucial components of metastasis, and colon cancer has a high metastatic potential, in this study we used the human colon cancer cell line LoVo as a model system to study the effects of PTHrP on these parameters.