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ShareOct. 21, 2011 — A revolutionary discovery regarding motile cancer cells made by research scientists at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and the University of Turku is challenging previous conceptions.
The results have been published on 25 July 2011 in the Journal of Cell Biology.
It has long been held that cells use different mechanisms for regulating migration and growth. This conception was proven false by research scientists Anja Mai and Stefan Veltel from the research team of Professor Johanna Ivaska. Their findings on aggressively spreading breast cancer cells revealed -- completely contrary to previous expectations -- that a single cell protein (p120RasGAP) acts as an important inhibitor of both cell migration and growth.
Cancer cells are characterised by traits such as uncontrollable growth and the ability to metastasise. The findings of the research team now show that the regulation of these two deadly traits in cells is interconnected, which may be an important piece of information in the future development of medicines.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT).
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- A. Mai, S. Veltel, T. Pellinen, A. Padzik, E. Coffey, V. Marjomaki, J. Ivaska. Competitive binding of Rab21 and p120RasGAP to integrins regulates receptor traffic and migration. The Journal of Cell Biology, 2011; 194 (2): 291 DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201012126
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
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