Diversity and functional evolution of the plasminogen activator system

The urokinase plasminogen activator system is a family of serine proteases which consists of uPA (urokinase plasminogen activator), uPAR (urokinase type plasminogen activator receptor) and PAI-1 (plasminogen activator inhibitor 1). In addition to their significant roles in activation, these proteases act as key regulators of the tumor microenvironment and are involved in the metastatic process in many cancers. High levels of uPA system proteases in many human cancer predicts poor patient prognosis and strongly indicated a key role of uPA system in cancer metastasis. Individual components of uPA system are found to be differentially expressed in cancer cells compared to normal cells and therefore are potential therapeutic targets. In this review, we present the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the role of uPA system in cancer progression. Epithelial to mesenchymal transitions (EMT) is the main cause of the cancer cell metastasis. We have also attempted to relate the role of uPA signaling in EMT of cancer cells.