Summary
Elevated levels of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) are associated with poor
prognosis in cancer. An explanation to the elevated levels of PAI-1 could be a protective
response to the increased proteolytic activity, caused by elevated levels of urokinase-type
plasminogen activator (uPA) observed in tumours; however, several lines of evidence
suggest that PAI-1 may contribute directly to the pathology of the disease. PAI-1
has been reported to have an effect on most of the basic cellular processes including
cell adhesion, cell migration, cell invasion, and cell proliferation and increasing
numbers of reports suggest that PAI-1 also can regulate programmed cell death (PCD)
in cancer cells and normal cells.A number of reports suggest that PAI-1 can inhibit
PCD through its pro-adhesive/anti-proteolytic property whereas other reports suggest
that PAI-1 induces PCD through its anti-adhesive property.Furthermore,it has been
suggested that PAI-1 can either induce or inhibit PCD though activation of cell signalling
pathways.This review will focus on the regulation of programmed cell death by PAI-1
in both normal cells and cancer cells.
Keywords
Apoptosis - cancer - PAI-1 - normal cells