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Natural
Protein may halt Colorectal Cancer's spread
Newswise — Medical College of Wisconsin
Cancer Center researchers in Milwaukee have
learned that a protein, CXCL12, that
normally controls intestinal cell movement,
has the potential to halt colorectal cancer
spreading.
These studies represent a potential
mechanism by which CXL12 may slow cancer
spreading. Controlling this process could
lead to new biological therapies for
colorectal cancers.
“Colorectal cancer ranks third in
cancer-related deaths in the United States
in 2008,” says principal investigator
Michael Dwinell, Ph.D., professor of
microbiology and molecular genetics.
“Finding therapies to prevent its spread to
secondary organs would increase patient
prognosis considerably.” Luke Drury, a
graduate student in the interdisciplinary
program for biomedical research at the
Medical College, was his research associate.
Their abstract was presented at the American
Association for Cancer Research meeting in
Denver, April 21.
Normal intestinal cells stick to underlying
proteins, which provide survival signals to
maintain cell health.
If they become unstuck, the floating cells
undergo a programmed cell death. In cancer,
cells have acquired genetic changes that
allow them to survive during loss of
attachment.
Previously, the researchers found that
colorectal cancer cells lacked CXCL12
expression. In these studies, they
re-introduced CXCL12 expression in
colorectal cancer cells which prevented
their ability to adhere to underlying
proteins.
Plus, the floating cells underwent
programmed cell death.
This research was done in the Medical
College’s Bobby Nick Voss Laboratory of
Colon Cancer Research with funding provided
by National Institute of Health (NIH), MCW
cancer center, and the Bobby Nick Voss
Foundation.
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