The many negative effects of cancers are amplified by migration of cancerous cells from their point of origin, a first step to metastasis and establishment of tumors in other parts of the body. A recent publication by CSUN biologists identifies how two key receptor proteins interact to contribute to migration of melanoma, or skin cancer.
The project is an all-CSUN production with contributions from the lab groups of Professors of Biology Maria Elena de Bellard and Cindy Malone with Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Ravinder Abrol. It includes results from thesis research by Master’s alumni Nikolas Yousefi and Samantha Hain, co-led by Yousefi and alumus Roland Lacap. The team conducted experiments with cultured melanoma cells to test the activity of two receptors, CXCR4 and CXCR7, which have been previously shown to play roles in cancer cell proliferation. Blockage of each receptor using siRNA expression control significantly reduced migration of cultured cancer cells, and cells engineered to have the two receptors inactivated similarly showed reduced migration compared to un-engineered controls. The authors suggest that their results show CXCR4 and CXCR7 are good candidates for drug development that could prevent migration and metastasis in melanoma and other cancers.
The full paper reporting the project’s results is available on the website of the journal Open Access LIbrary Journal.