Perlecan, a heparan sulfate proteoglycan of basement membranes and cell surfaces, has
been implicated in the control of tumor cell growth and metastasis because of its ability to
bind and store growth factors and its activity as an inducer of angiogenesis. Because
interferon-γ (IFN-γ), a cytokine with known antiproliferative and antitumoral activity, binds
with high affinity to the heparan sulfate side chains of perlecan, we investigated the activity
of IFN-γ on perlecan gene expression and cell growth in colon carcinoma cells. We found …