2012 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 33-40
A novel function of heparin has been found to enhance cellular adhesion and suppression of the growth of tumor cell colonies mediated by the binding of heparin to a kringle domain of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) -receptor on cell surfaces. Our present study was to evaluate the effect of heparin on tumor cell invasion and metastasis by computer-simulations with Fick's diffusion equation as well as with gradient percolation. The distribution of both the cellular and computer-emerged colonies were not random but heterogeneous during the formation of colonies. Our numerical analysis by Fick's equation demonstrated that the increment of the amount of heparin allows the decrease of diffusion constant (D) and thus cells are not capable of migration suggesting that heparin suppressed tumor cell invasion and metastasis.
