Fresh details on the molecular process of cancer metastasis are revealed
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Studies conducted by American scientists (University of Loyola in Chicago) revealed fresh details about a complex molecular process involving a protein that allows cancer cells to base new colonies in remote corners of the body. In the future, the obtained data can be useful in the development of antitumor drugs that can prevent the development of metastases in breast cancer (and some other types of cancer) throughout the body.
The study was performed on the chemokine receptor CXCR4, present on the outer side of the cell membranes. Abnormally high concentrations of this molecule are found in at least 23 types of cancer, including breast, lung, pancreatic and thyroid gland cancer.
The spread of cancer cells from its primary focus to a variety of organs and tissues of the body - that's what usually kills. The cells of the tumor break away from the mass that produced them and begin to circulate in the bloodstream throughout the body. A molecule called CXCL12 behaves like a beacon for the chemokine receptor CXCR4, signaling to an oncoclet that it can land in this place and give life to a new tumor. Thus, the study was undertaken in order to better understand all the details of this complex signaling pathway.
Using the line of cancer cells HeLa ("immortal" Henrietta Lax cancer cells, capable of infinite division), scientists have identified a molecule that is a critical link in the entire signaling pathway. They hope to use it as a goal, in order to turn off the signaling path - that is, to keep cancer cells from attaching to a new place.
The next logical step should be the development of a drug for blocking the target molecule, after which the drug will be tested in animal models. If it proves effective, then the first clinical trials with the participation of cancer patients will follow.
And only one thing is not clarified to the very end: what exactly is the "molecule that is a critical link in the whole signal pathway"? On the basis of indirect data (the same article in the Journal of Biological Chemistry available, by the way, in full), we can conclude that this mediator is ubiquitin ligase atrophin interacting protein 4 (AIP4).
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