![Regulating Breast Cancer Metastasis]()
Cancer cells produce protrusions called invadopodia that weaken the surrounding extracellular matrix and help the cancer cells spread. The signaling mechanisms that control invadopodia functioning are not fully known. In a study published online on October 23 in The Journal of Cell Biology, Louis Hodgson, Ph.D., and colleagues studied the role of the protein-coding gene Rac3 in a mouse model of breast cancer. They found that Rac3 protein is part of a signaling pathway that regulates breast cancer metastasis by controlling the invadopodia’s ability to stick to and degrade the extracellular matrix. Rac3-dependent signaling helps balance matrix breakdown with cell adhesion to optimize invasion and metastasis by breast cancer cells. Dr. Hodgson is associate professor of anatomy and structural biology and in the Gruss-Lipper Biophotonics Center.
Posted on: Wednesday, November 15, 2017