Figure - PMC

Skip to main content

An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

View full-text article in PMC

. 2015 Oct 20;5:224. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2015.00224

Search in PMC
Search in PubMed
View in NLM Catalog
Add to search

Copyright © 2015 Venning, Wullkopf and Erler.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

PMC Copyright notice

Survival in the blood: ECM components as physical shields and mediators of platelet recruitment. In order to survive the high shear forces and patrolling NK-cells in the blood circulation, tumor cells interact with platelets. This association is mainly initiated by fibrinogen. Fibrinogen binding to tumor-expressed α_vβ₃ and platelet-derived integrin α_IIbβ₃ induces the formation of cancer-cell–fibrinogen–platelet complexes. In addition, tenascin C association with integrin α₂β₁ or the glycoprotein Ib-IX complex enhances platelet adhesion and activation. An HA-rich pericellular matrix further shields the cancer cells from NK-cell attack.