Mononuclear phagocytes concentrate urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) at the cell surface by expressing membrane uPA receptors (uPAR). This study examines the ability of exogenous cytokines to alter expression of membrane-associated uPA and uPAR in U937 mononuclear phagocytes. Cells were stimulated with recombinant interferon gamma (IFN gamma) or tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha),...

The urokinase receptor (uPAR) is a GPI-anchored membrane protein, which regulates protease activity at the cell surface and, in collaboration with a system of co-receptors, triggers cell-signaling and regulates gene expression within the cell. In normal tissues, uPAR gene expression is limited; however, in cancer, uPAR is frequently over-expressed and the gene may be amplified. Hypoxia, which o...

Besides focusing urokinase (uPA) proteolytic activity on the cell membrane, the uPA receptor (uPAR) is able to bind vitronectin, via a direct binding site. Furthermore, uPAR interacts with other cell surface receptors, such as integrins, receptor tyrosine kinases, and chemotaxis receptors, triggering cell-signaling pathways that promote tumor progression. The ability of uPAR to coordinate bindi...

The urokinase receptor (urokinase plasminogen activator receptor; uPAR) regulates monocyte adhesion by direct binding to vitronectin and by forming complexes with integrins. Therefore, possible up-regulation of uPAR in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) may affect monocyte adhesion. In 20 patients with AMI, uPAR surface expression (measured by flow cytometry) was increased compared with that in ...

Lung cancer is currently the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. Conventional therapeutic treatments, including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, have achieved only limited success. The overexpression of proteases, such as urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), its receptor (uPAR), and matrix metalloproteinases (MMP), is correlated with the progression of lung ...

Elevated level of urokinase receptor (uPAR) is detected in various aggressive cancer types and is closely associated with poor prognosis of cancers. Binding of uPA to uPAR triggers the conversion of plasminogen to plasmin and the subsequent activation of metalloproteinases. These events confer tumor cells with the capability to degrade the components of the surrounding extracellular matrix, thu...

BACKGROUND Head and neck adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is a malignancy of the salivary and lacrimal glands with a variable growth pattern and propensity for perineural spread. Involvement of the skull base indicates a poor prognosis. Despite surgical resection and adjuvant radiotherapy, tumor recurrence and metastases are common. The urokinase-type plasminogen activator and its receptor (uPAR)...

We explored the role of urokinase and tissue-type plasminogen activators (uPA and tPA), as well as the uPA receptor (uPAR; CD87) in mouse severe malaria (SM), using genetically deficient (-/-) mice. The mortality resulting from Plasmodium berghei ANKA infection was delayed in uPA(-/-) and uPAR(-/-) mice but was similar to that of the wild type (+/+) in tPA(-/-) mice. Parasitemia levels were sim...

The urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) has been proposed as a potential prognostic factor for various malignancies. The aim of this study is to assess the prognostic value of uPAR expression in neoplastic and stromal cells of patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Urokinase plasminogen activator receptor expression was determined by immunohistochemistry in 122 pancreatic ductal a...

The urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) has been implicated in several processes in tumor progression including cell migration and invasion in addition to initiation of signal transduction. Since uPAR lacks a transmembrane domain, it uses the interaction with other proteins to modulate intracellular signal transduction. We have previously identified hSpry1 as a partner protein ...