cancer spread tagged posts

One specific protein may be a master regulator for changing how cancer cells consume nutrients from their environments, preventing cell death and increasing the likelihood the cancer could spread, a study from the University of Notre Dame has shown.

The study, published in Cell Reports, was completed in the laboratory of Zachary Schafer, the Coleman Foundation Associate Professor of Cancer Biology in the Department of Biological Sciences.

Schafer and collaborators found a protein called SGK1, known to be activated in a variety of cancer cell types, signals the cell to take up nutrients...

Certain anchor proteins inhibit a key metabolic driver that plays an important role in cancer and developmental brain disorders. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the University of Innsbruck, together with a Europe-wide research network, discovered this molecular mechanism, which could open up new opportunities for personalized therapies for cancer and neuronal diseases. They published their results in the journal Cell.

The signaling protein MTOR (Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin) is a sensor for nutrients such as amino acids and sugars. When sufficient nutrients are available, MTOR boosts metabolism and ensures that sufficient energy and cellular building blocks are available...

Researchers showed that FAP (middle panels) is overexpressed in pancreatic tumors compared to normal pancreatic tissue. Particularly high levels of FAP expression were associated with poorer outcomes. Credit: University of Pennsylvania

New findings from a University of Pennsylvania-led team offer a promising target for future therapies that could potentially root out even well-hidden metatstatic cancer lesions. When they deleted the gene encoding this protein in mice with the disease, the animals lived longer, and the cancer’s spread to other organs was reduced...