There is growing evidence that cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) interact with tumor cells and play important roles in tumor progression and invasion. Podoplanin is a type-1 transmembrane glycoprotein expressed in a variety of normal human tissues, including lymphatic endothelium. Tumor cell expression of podoplanin correlates with nodal metastasis and poor prognosis in squamous cell carcino...

Podoplanin is a mucin-type glycoprotein which was first identified in podocytes. Recently, podoplanin has been successively reported as a marker for brain and peripheral nerve tumors, however, the distribution of podoplanin-expressing cells in normal nerves has not been fully investigated. This study aims to examine the podoplanin-expressing cell distribution in the mouse head and nervous syste...

PURPOSE The biologic characteristics of microenvironmental constituents, especially cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF), can be key regulators of the cellular sensitivity to molecular-targeted therapy. Epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKI) have marked therapeutic effects against non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with EGFR mutations, but some patients have exhib...

Podoplanin (RTI40, aggrus, T1alpha, hT1alpha-2, E11, PA2.26, RANDAM-2, gp36, gp38, gp40, OTS8) is a type I cell marker in rat lung. We show that a bacterial artificial chromosome vector containing the rat podoplanin gene (RTIbac) delivers a pattern of transgene expression in lung that is more restricted to mouse type I cells than that of the endogenous mouse podoplanin gene. RTIbac-transgenic m...

Tumor initiating cells (TICs) are characterized by high clonal expansion capacity. We previously reported that podoplanin is a TIC-specific marker for the human squamous cell carcinoma cell line A431. The aim of this study is to explore the molecular mechanism underlying the high clonal expansion potential of podoplanin-positive A431cells using Fucci imaging. Single podoplanin-positive cells cr...

Podoplanin, a transmembrane sialomucin-like glycoprotein, is a specific marker of lymphatic vessels, and its expression is also considered to be associated with tumor invasion and tooth development. In this study, we examined the expression of podoplanin in calcifying cystic odontogenic tumor (CCOT) in comparison with that in other so-called hard α-keratin-expressing tumors such as craniopharyn...

This study investigates the significance of the expression and dynamics of podoplanin in mechanostress and mineralization in cultured murine osteoblasts. Podoplanin increased in osteoblasts subjected to straining in non-mineralization medium, suggesting that the mechanostress alone is a podoplanin induction factor. In osteoblasts subjected to vertical elongation straining in the mineralization ...

INTRODUCTION Activated fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) share many characteristics with tumour cells and are key mediators of synovial tissue transformation and joint destruction. The glycoprotein podoplanin is upregulated in the invasive front of several human cancers and has been associated with epithelial-mesenchymal transition, increased cell migration and ti...

Purpose: The biologic characteristics of microenvironmental constituents, especially cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF), can be key regulators of the cellular sensitivity to molecular-targeted therapy. Epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKI) have marked therapeutic effects against non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with EGFR mutations, but some patients have exhi...

Podoplanin is a transmembrane glycoprotein up-regulated in different human tumors, especially those derived from squamous stratified epithelia (SCCs). Its expression in tumor cells is linked to increased cell migration and invasiveness; however, the mechanisms underlying this process remain poorly understood. Here we report that CD44, the major hyaluronan (HA) receptor, is a novel partner for p...