Crosstalk between apoptosis and antioxidants in melanoma vasculogenic mimicry

Abstract

The concept of "vasculogenic mimicry" (VM) was introduced to describe the unique ability of highly aggressive tumor cells to form capillary-like structure (CLS) and matrix-rich patterned network in three-dimensional cultures that mimic embryonic vasculogenic network. Here, we provide the experimental evidence that CLS structure formation requires apoptotic cell death through activation of caspase-dependent mechanism. Our results indicate that the formation of CLS is also related to the reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels.