Protein That Aids Skin Cancer Spread Discovered
Researchers have identified a protein which assists the spread of skin cancer to different systems in the body.
Skin cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. A subcategory of skin cancer that tends to be the most serious are known as melanomas. In a joint study between The Francis Crick Institute, King's College London and Queen Mary University, researchers investigated the effect of the availability of a protein known as LAP1 on the ability for the cancer to move through an artificial membrane with pores smaller than the cancer cell's nucleus.
The initial results showed that cancer cells that had their LAP1 production inhibited found it harder to pass through the membrane, as it was more difficult for them to form bulges known as blebs. Blebs form on the nuclear envelope of skin cancer cells, making the nucleus less rigid, and so able to squeeze through pores that would otherwise be too small. In the body, this process helps the cancer cells spread or metastasize.
The research showed that bleb formation inhibited by lower LAP1 concentrations. This correlates with the fact that metastatic cells (that spread the cancer) express higher levels of LAP1 proteins, compared to those in the primary tumour.
By gaining an understanding of the mechanism by which melanoma cells can spread, new research and treatments targeting LAP1 proteins may be developed, with the end result hopefully being the reduction of the rate of spread of melanomas.