Cancer metastasis protein is discovered

Mayo Clinic scientists in Florida say the finding may lead to a technique that can stop cancer from spreading elsewhere in the body -- the process that most often leads to death.

The researchers, led by cancer biologist Peter Storz, found that if PKD1 is active, tumor cells cannot move, a finding they say explains why PKD1 is silenced in some invasive cancers.

Storz's team has been investigating a process known as actin remodeling at the leading edge -- the most forward point -- of such migrating tumor cells.
"The events that reorganize the actin cytoskeleton at the leading edge are complex -- a multitude of molecules act in concert," Storz said. "But it appears that PKD1 must be turned off if cancer cells are to migrate.

"Now that we have identified PKD1 as key regulator in processes regulating actin-based directed tumor cell movement, we can begin to think about designing treatments to stop invasive cancer cells from metastasizing," he added. "The basic mechanisms we have uncovered are key to developing those strategies."

The study appears in the online edition of the journal Nature Cell Biology.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International.