New target! A matrix molecule identified as "critical" for pancreatic cancer metastasis

Photo Credit: Refs11
researchers from the Garvan Institute of Medicine in Australia have found that tumor microenvironments are important causes to help cancer cells spreadA substrate membrane protein not only "reshapes" the microenvironment of pancreatic cancer tumors, but also helps cancer cells spread fasterWhy doespancreatic cancer spread?to uncover the inside story of diffuse pancreatic cancer that promotes cancer cell metastasis, the team took an unconventional approach: they compared the tissue around tumor cells in metastatic and non-metastatic pancreatic cancer, also known as the "matrix", a "glue" substance that binds different cells and organs together in tumorsthe researchers first extracted the corresponding "fibroblasts" from these two types of pancreatic cancer tumors, which produce most of the matrixThe two different types of fibroblasts were then cross-mixed with two types of cancer cells to observe tumor spreadThe results showed that non-diffusion tumors began to spread after the fibroblasts of metastatic tumors were mixed with non-diffusion cancer cellsIn layman's terms, a rat broke a pot of soup"Our results suggest that some pancreatic cancer cells can 'educate' fibroblasts inside and around the tumor to create new substrates that support cancer cell diffusion by forming fibroblasts," explains drClaire Vennin, the's first authorThis means that in growing tumors, even a small number of invasive metastasis cells can assimiall other less invasive cancer cells"How dostop cancer cells from spreading? howprevent this phenomenon of cancer cell spread by using the matrix? With this in question, the team studied fibroblasts more closely Photo Source: Repres
First, researchers used state-of-the-art mass spectrometry to analyze fibroblasts in two types of pancreatic cancer tumors They found that fibroblasts of metastatic tumors produced a basal membrane protein called Perlecan, which had significantly higher levels than non-metastatic tumor fibroblasts , they then used gene editing techniques to reduce perlecan levels in mice with metastatic pancreatic cancer and track individual cancer cells using real-time imaging The study found that reducing the level of Perlecan basal protein in fibroblasts could prevent cancer cells from reshaping the tumor microenvironment, thereby reducing the likelihood of cancer cell proliferation and better for chemotherapy new target of broad-spectrum anti-cancer drugs
Dr Vennin was excited about the findings, saying: "We believe that combining matrix molecules such as perllecan to help cancer cells spread with chemotherapy not only effectively inhibits pancreatic cancer metastasis, but also has a role for prostate and breast cancer metastasis." This may be a new way to improve the level of metastatic cancer treatment Professor Says Timpson says most cancer treatments are now targeted at cancer cells themselves The tumor microenvironment is a virgin land of cancer treatment resources to be reclaimed The research team will further explore the perfect way to provide cancer treatment caf ppsydd driven by the birc cancer cell p53-status creates a pro-metastatic and chemoresistant environment via perlecan A matrix molecule identified as the "key" to pancreatic cancer metastasis