Catecholamines Regulate Tumor Angiogenesis

¹Department of Pathology, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio; ²Signal Transduction and Biogenic Amines Department, Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, Kolkata, India; and ³Arthur G. James Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: partha42002{at}yahoo.com.

	Abstract

Among the regulators of angiogenesis, catecholamine neurotransmitters are of recent interest because of their opposite roles in the regulation of tumor neovascularization. Norepinephrine and epinephrine by acting through specific adrenoceptors increase the synthesis of proangiogenic factors, and thereby, promote tumor growth. In contrast, dopamine acting via its specific D₂ receptors inhibits tumor growth by suppressing the actions of vascular permeability factor/vascular endothelial growth factor-A on both tumor endothelial and bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells. These reports identify novel endogenous regulators of tumor angiogenesis and also indicate a new and an inexpensive class of antiangiogenic drugs for the treatment of cancer. [Cancer Res 2009;69(9):3727–30]