关键词：骨头；乳腺癌；转移；粘附；细胞（生物学）
摘 要：Bone is a common site of metastasis in breast cancer patients, leading to serious clinical consequences and a poor prognosis. The molecular mechanisms regulating this preferential metastasis of breast cancer to bone have not yet been fully elucidated. Our lab has found that CD68 is highly expressed in certain breast cancer cell lines and demonstrated that expression is correlative with bone adhesion ability. We hypothesized that CD68 mediates attachment of breast cancer cells onto bone matrix, subsequently regulating bone metastasis. Using stable shRNA (short hairpin RNA) to knock down CD68 expression in breast cancer cells and forcing expression of CD68 in breast cancer cell lines that do not endogenously express it, it is suggested that CD68 is not a critical adhesion molecule. However, because CD68 is a lysosomal protein, it may be involved in cell viability, particularly through autophagy. The ongoing studies may further provide more direct and convincing data.