During metastasis, the mechanical properties of the nucleus make translocation of this organelle the rate-limiting step during constrained migration, and these properties are regulated through interactions between the cytoskeleton, integral nuclear envelope (NE) proteins, the nuclear lamina and chromatin.
Pancreatic cancer is an exceptionally lethal cancer that is notoriously treatment resistant, in part due to poor vascularization in the tumor microenvironment. Investigators working at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), reported in the Jan. 16, 2023, issue of Nature Cell Biology on the discovery of a pathway that was initiated by isolation stresses (e.g., hypoxia, nutrient deprivation, and/or lack of extracellular matrix, ECM) leading to this cellular transformation in the tumor-initiating pancreatic cancer cell.
In 2022, neuroscience research made significant advances by understanding the role of large-scale neuronal connections in disorders. So did cancer research.
In 2022, neuroscience research made significant advances by understanding the role of large-scale neuronal connections in disorders. So did cancer research.
Researchers from Fudan University presented data from a study that aimed to assess the significance of a newly found long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), Ewing sarcoma-associated transcript 1 (EWSAT1), in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) metastasis.
Researchers from Phio Pharmaceuticals Corp. presented preclinical data for PH-109, a novel self-delivering RNAi targeting connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), which was originally developed and assessed in early clinical trials as potential treatment of dermal hypertrophic scarring and subretinal fibrosis. The current study evaluated PH-109 in a mouse model of metastatic breast cancer.
Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) transit through the bloodstream and they exhibit heterogeneity in their expression of epithelial and mesenchymal marker proteins, including the cadherin proteins. Based on these findings, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School evaluated the potential of the dual anti-cadherin antibody, 23C6, in targeting CTC-dependent blood-borne metastasis.
Investigators working at University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, have discovered that the ubiquitin ligase UBR2 is up-regulated and sufficient for targeting the myosin heavy chain protein for the degradation characteristic of cancer cachexia. UBR2 knockout or pharmacological inhibition could prevent cachexia in mice. Confirmatory observations were noted in cancer cachexia patient-derived tissues.
