To treat lung cancer spread in another way

Scientists at the University of New York and the University of Texas have found through recombinant rat proteins that one component of a cancer cell, which acts like a cellular post office, may be the key to preventing lung cancer from spreading to other parts of the body. This finding can point to new therapies that target a specific communication mechanism in the cell. This communication triggers a change in the perimeter of the cell scaffold. It changes from a fixed shape to an organ that has a more unstable shape which can move freely within the body.

"Cell post offices", or the Golgi apparatus which are more well-known, are able to transport proteins to other parts of the cell or transport them outside the cell. The researchers found that a protein called PAQR11, inside the cell postoffice, from another protein called Zeb1, receives a signal that the two proteins communicate between the Golgi membrane and transport the membrane. These membrane bags, or vesicles, alter their route of delivery, altering the perimeter of the cancer cells to detach the cells from their fixed position in the lungs and freeing them to other parts of the body.

"If we think of a cancer cell as a tent structure, it has fixed edges to keep its shape and hold it in order to retain its contents. It can't move except its change in structure," says Dr. Daniel Ungar of the Department of Biology at New York University.

"To move the tent, we have to rearrange its contents to destroy its edge and move it away from the fixed position. There is a similar process when the cancer metastasis happens, and its outer edge changes so that it can't be fixed."

Golgi, the communication center between proteins, hencing the name "cell post office", receives a communication signal between two proteins that signal the movement of the membrane around the cell that should be changed. This movement changes the circumference of cancer cells just like the edge of a tent is destroyed to make them free from original resting place to anywhere of the whole body.

"Since we recognize this system, it is possible to develop a drug that interferes with this communication and prevents the Golgi apparatus from promoting the movement of the membrane bag. The next phase of this study will look at how we can work without interfering normal cellular function under the premise of targeting this process," Dr. Ungar added.

The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, the American Cancer Society and the Texas Cancer Prevention Institute, was published in the Journal of Clinical Research. Flarebio provides you with good-quality recombinant proteins such as recombinant PIGR at competitive prices.