Immuno-Oncology Advances in Applied Cellular Analysis - 10

Advances in Applied Cellular Analysis * Researchers Describe Mechanism that Underlies Cancer Metastasis

is known to help the cancer cells attach themselves to their surroundings. But the study suggests that when the cancer cells are floating, as
they do during metastasis, the integrins switch
from their adhesion role to take on an entirely
new form of communication that has never been
seen before, i.e., inside-in signaling, in which integrins signal within the cell.
The researchers discovered that an integrin called
beta-1 (β1) pairs up with another protein called
c-Met and they move inside the cell together.
The two proteins then travel to an unexpected
location within the cell that is normally used to
degrade and recycle cell material. Instead, the
location is used for a new role of cell communication and the two proteins send a message to the
rest of the cell to resist death while floating
during metastasis.
Using both breast and lung cells, the team found

| GENengnews.com

that metastases were less likely to form when β1
and c-Met were blocked from entering the cell
together or were prevented from moving to the
special location within the cell.
Integrins are already major targets for cancer
treatment, with drugs either being tested or in
use in the clinic. Most integrin inhibitor drugs
target their adhesive function and block it on the
surface of the cancer cell. The researchers say that
the limited success of these drugs could be partly
explained by this newly discovered role of integrins within the cancer cell.
A new strategy could be to prevent the integrin
from going inside the cell in the first place. The
researchers hope that these insights could lead to
the design of better therapies against metastasis
and more effective treatment combinations that
could prevent and slow both tumor growth and
spread. n

http://www.GENengnews.com

Immuno-Oncology Advances in Applied Cellular Analysis

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Immuno-Oncology Advances in Applied Cellular Analysis