Insights into Metastasis — Invadopodia are cancer-cell protrusions that forge pathways allowing cancer cells to metastasize (spread) from one site to another. A study from Dr. John Condeelis and his team, published in the November 4 issue of Current Biology, offers a three-step sequential model—initiation, stabilization and maturation—for how cancer cells assemble their invadopodia. The study also found that two proteins (Tks5 and SHIP2) and the membrane lipid PI(3,4)P2 cooperate in forming and stabilizing invadopodia. The findings suggest that metastasis—the leading cause of death among cancer patients—might be prevented by targeting one or more of the molecules responsible for forming invadopodia. Dr. Condeelis is professor and co-chair of anatomy & structural biology, co-director of the Gruss-Lipper Biophotonics Center and of the Integrated Imaging Program, scientific director of the Analytical Imaging Facility, and director of the Tumor Microenvironment and Metastasis Program of the Albert Einstein Cancer Center. He also holds the Judith and Burton P. Resnick Chair in Translational Research. The first author on the study was Dr. Ved Sharma, an associate in anatomy & structural biology.
Posted on: Monday, July 28, 2014