Expresia catepsinei D în carcinosarcomul Walker-256 şi rolul ei în procesul de metastazare

Many studies characterize tumors biologically in order to emphasize their proliferative, invasive and metastatic abilities. The biological potential of malignant tumors is an important factor in their growth. The malignant phenotype is asociated with the combined action of some exo- or endopeptidases, such as cathepsin D. They constitute an enzymatic cascade which facilitates extracellular matrix degradation, an important stage in the invasion by tumor cells. In our study we applied a biochemical method to determine cathepsin D in the tumoral cytosol prepared from the tumor sampled between the 13th and 25th day. We noticed that the enzyme activity in the tumor tissue enhanced significantly (p<0.05) beginning with the 15th day and correlated the enzyme activity with the tumor growth and metastasis development parameters. The enhanced enzyme activity in the tumor tissue is consistent with the cathepsin D role in metastasis appearance and development.