(Press-News.org) BOSTON, Mass. (June 14, 2011) — A team led by Joan Brugge, the Louise Foote Pfeiffer Professor of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School, recently shed light on how ovarian cancer spreads. In a paper published in the July edition of the journal Cancer Discovery, the newest journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, Brugge and colleagues found that ovarian cancer cells act like bullies, using brute force to plow their way through tissue and colonize additional organs.
"This is the first time that mechanical force has been implicated in the spread of ovarian cancer," says Brugge, who is also chair of the Department of Cell Biology. "While this research is still preliminary, we are building a foundation for the development of treatments based on a robust understanding of the disease."
According to the National Cancer Institute, ovarian cancer accounts for about three percent of all cancers among women in the United States. It caused nearly 14,000 deaths in 2010 alone.
The ovaries and many other organs, such as the liver, stomach and intestines, are located in an anatomical space called the peritoneal cavity. The lining of this cavity is called the peritoneum, and its top layer is called the mesothelium. After an ovarian tumor develops, clusters of cancer cells are released into the peritoneal cavity. Each cluster floats around until it encounters the lining of the cavity. It attaches to the lining, spreads out and launches an invasion into the mesothelium. Brugge's team determined how ovarian cancer cells get through the mesothelium to colonize organs on the other side.
When researchers placed ovarian cancer cells and mesothelial cells together in a dish, the cancer cells formed a hole in the mesothelial layer, mirroring behavior that would occur in the body as an invasion proceeds. The team interfered with molecular components of the cancer cells one by one and used time-lapse microscopy to watch the result. If the hole failed to form, the researchers knew that they'd discovered a critical player in the invasion process.
They identified three such players—integrin, talin and myosin, which are all proteins known to play a role in cell movement. Integrin sticks out from the cancer cells and grabs hold of scaffolding surrounding the mesothelium. Myosin, which is a motor, pulls on integrin via talin. As a result, the protruding cancer cells gain traction and can now force mesothelial cells out of the way.
"The cancer cells act like bullies," says first author Marcin Iwanicki, a postdoctoral researcher in Brugge's lab. "Instead of relying on a sophisticated biochemical process to achieve their goal, they simply push mesothelial cells apart."
"Eventually, it might be possible to prevent or reverse the invasion process," says Brugge. "We hope that our work will inform such treatments in the future."
### END
Ovarian cancer cells bully their way through tissue
2011-06-15
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
New light shed on cell division
2011-06-15
Genes control everything from eye color to disease susceptibility, and inheritance - the passing of the genes from generation to generation after they have been duplicated - depends on centromeres. Located in the little pinched waist of each chromosome, centromeres control the movements that separate sister chromosomes when cells divide ensuring that each daughter cell inherits a complete copy of each chromosome. It has long been known that centromeres are not formed solely from DNA; rather, centromere proteins (CENPs) facilitate the assembly of a centromere on each chromosome. ...
Rating hospital quality means asking the right questions, experts say
2011-06-15
With an increased emphasis on grading hospitals and a push to withhold payments from hospitals who don't meet certain standards, two Johns Hopkins researchers argue that more attention needs to be paid to the quality of the measurement tools used to praise and punish.
The science of outcomes reporting is young and lags behind the desire to publically report adverse medical outcomes, write Elliott R. Haut, M.D., an associate professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Peter J. Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D., a Johns Hopkins professor of anesthesiology ...
Number of paid malpractice claims similar between inpatient and outpatient settings
2011-06-15
In an examination of trends of malpractice claims, there has been a greater decline in the rate of paid claims for inpatient settings than outpatient settings, and in 2009, the number of malpractice claims for events resulting in paid malpractice claims in outpatient and inpatient settings were similar, according to a study in the June 15 issue of JAMA.
Much attention has been given to patient safety, but most initiatives have centered around inpatient care. "For example, in the past 5 years, the number of studies funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality ...
Extensive TV watching linked with increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, CVD and all-cause death
2011-06-15
In an analysis of data from several studies, watching television for 2-3 hours per day or more was associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular disease and all-cause death, according to a study in the June 15 issue of JAMA.
Television (TV) viewing is the most commonly reported daily activity apart from working and sleeping in many populations around the world. In the United States, the average number of daily hours of TV viewing has recently been reported to be 5 hours. "Beyond altering energy expenditure by displacing time spent ...
Poorer outcomes linked with certain hormone for patients with early-stage chronic kidney disease
2011-06-15
Patients in the early stages of chronic kidney disease who had elevated levels of the endocrine hormone fibroblast growth factor 23 (that regulates phosphorus metabolism) had an associated increased risk of end-stage renal disease and death, according to a study in the June 15 issue of JAMA.
Circulating levels of fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23) increase progressively as kidney function declines. A high level of FGF-23 is associated with mortality in patients with end-stage renal disease, but little is known about its relationship with adverse outcomes in the larger ...
Prolonged TV viewing linked to increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease
2011-06-15
Boston, MA – Watching television is the most common daily activity apart from work and sleep in many parts of the world, but it is time for people to change their viewing habits. According to a new study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers, prolonged TV viewing was associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and premature death.
The study appears in the June 15, 2011, edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
"The message is simple. Cutting back on TV watching can significantly reduce risk of type ...
Making quantum cryptography truly secure
2011-06-15
(14 June 2011) Singapore and Trondheim, Norway: Quantum key distribution (QKD) is an advanced tool for secure computer-based interactions, providing confidential communication between two remote parties by enabling them to construct a shared secret key during the course of their conversation.
QKD is perfectly secure in principle, but researchers have long been aware that loopholes may arise when QKD is put into practice. Now, for the first time, a team of researchers at the Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) at the National University of Singapore, the Norwegian University ...
Researchers question safety of mist inhalers for delivering common drug for chronic lung disease
2011-06-15
People who use a mist inhaler to deliver a drug widely prescribed in more than 55 countries to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may be 52 percent more likely to die, new Johns Hopkins-led research suggests.
The findings, published by BMJ, the British Medical Journal, raise concerns not only about the mist inhaler — a device that delivers the soluble form of the medication tiotropium — but also about the drug itself. The mist inhaler has not yet gained regulatory approval in the United States, but the drug in its powdered form is commonly used to treat ...
Copper folds protein into precursors of Parkinson's plaques
2011-06-15
Researchers at North Carolina State University have figured out how copper induces misfolding in the protein associated with Parkinson's disease, leading to creation of the fibrillar plaques which characterize the disease. This finding has implications for both the study of Parkinson's progression, as well as for future treatments.
The protein in question, alpha-synuclein, is the major component of fibrillar plaques found in Parkinson's patients. Researchers had already discovered that certain metals, including copper, could increase the rate of misfolding by binding ...
Mount Sinai researchers find potential therapeutic target for controlling obesity
2011-06-15
A new study from Mount Sinai School of Medicine has found that a cellular signaling pathway governs the differentiation of cells into fat tissue or smooth muscle, which lines the vascular system. Engaging this signaling pathway and its capacity to govern cell differentiation has important implications in preventing obesity and cardiovascular disease. The study is published in the June issue of Developmental Cell.
This research, by Philippe M. Soriano, PhD, Professor, Developmental and Regenerative Biology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and Lorin E. Olson, PhD, previously ...