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Hematopoietic cells home to bone by means of chemo‐attraction to marrow chemokines, and interaction of chemokines with their receptors leads to the expression/activation of adhesion molecules and proteases. Recent evidence suggests that similar mechanisms may be active in cancer metastasis. Previously, we showed that metalloproteases (MMPs), and in particular MMP‐9, play a role in prostate cancer (PC) expansion in bone.

We used a variety of methods including RT‐PCR, immunohistochemistry, ELISA, gelatin zymography, cellular motility and invasion, and subcellular fractionation of PC cells applied to in vivo and in vitro models.

Here we showed that (a) CXCL12/CXCR4 axis is expressed in PC bone metastasis; (b) exogenous CXCL12 induced MMP‐9 expression by PC cells; (c) bone stromal cells and bone tissue conditioned media induced the migration of …