To invade the decidua and myometrium, extravillous trophoblast must degrade an assortment of extracellular matrix (ECM) components. The uterine wall is rich in heparan sulphate proteoglycans (HSPG), which interact with collagen, laminin and fibronectin, and bind a variety of growth factors. HSPG are catabolised by heparanase, an enzyme that is highly expressed in the placenta. The aim of this s...

Neurotrophins (NTs) modulate the brain invasion of melanoma cells and the activity of an extracellular matrix degradative enzyme, heparanase, that has been recently cloned. Heparanase degrades the heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) and is a critical mediator of tumor metastasis and angiogenesis. Because astrocytes are among the first brain cells encountered by extravasating melanoma cells, t...

Immune cells can modify surrounding extracellular matrices by producing matrix degradation enzymes. Heparan sulfate proteoglycans, a major component of basement membrane, play a key role in the self-assembly, insolubility, and barrier properties of the matrix. Some immune cell subsets express heparanase, the sole mammalian endoglycosidase that cleaves heparan sulfate chains and thereby potentia...

BACKGROUND Heparanase, a mammalian endo-beta-D-glucuronidase, specifically degrades heparan sulfate proteoglycans ubiquitously associated with the cell surface and extracellular matrix. This single gene encoded enzyme is over-expressed in most human cancers, promoting tumor metastasis and angiogenesis. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We report that targeted disruption of the murine heparanase gene elimina...

Numerous epidemiological studies clearly suggest that estrogen is one of the main driving forces in breast tumorigenesis, but precise mechanisms of cancer promotion by estrogen remain poorly understood. Classically, tumorigenic effects of estrogen have been attributed to its ability to directly promote the proliferation of breast cancer cells. In addition to abnormal proliferation, interactions...

Heparanase activity is correlated with the metastatic potential of several cancer cells and is a key enzyme in the breakdown of tissue barriers. It is also involved in the regulation of growth factor and cytokine activity. However, little is known about the factors that induce heparanase in cancer cells. We investigated the effect of three growth factors, platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), ...

BACKGROUND Tumor angiogenesis is important in the progression of malignancies, and heparanase plays an important role in sustaining the pathology of clear cell renal cell cancer (ccRCC). The study was carried out to investigate the correlations between microvessel density (MVD) and heparanase expression containing prognostic significances in the patients with ccRCC. METHODS Specimens from 128...

The present study emphasizes the importance of cell surface expression and secretion of heparanase (endo-beta-D-glucuronidase) in tumor angiogenesis and metastasis. For this purpose, nonmetastatic Eb mouse lymphoma cells were transfected with the predominantly intracellular human heparanase or with a readily secreted chimeric construct composed of the human enzyme and the chicken heparanase sig...

Incubation of human platelets, human neutrophils, or highly metastatic mouse lymphoma cells with sulfate-labeled extracellular matrix (ECM) results in heparanase-mediated release of labeled heparan sulfate cleavage fragments (0.5 less than Kav less than 0.85 on Sepharose 6B). This degradation was inhibited by native heparin both when brought about by intact cells or their released heparanase ac...

Heparanase (NP_001092010) is a heparin-binding endo-bD-glucuronidase expressed by normal lacrimal gland (GEO Profiles: GDS1361), corneal epithelia (Berk et al., 2004), retinal pigment epithelium/choroid, lens (NEIBank) and some non-ocular tissues. Heparanase is over-expressed in essentially all human tumors examined. Western blotting suggests that heparanase is a constituent of normal tears (Ma...