Reversing migratory cancer cells
6 Apr 2011 by Evoluted New Media
Ovarian cancer isn’t typically discovered until it’s already spread to other organs, by which time chemotherapy is ineffective, but researchers think they know how to revert metastatic cells back to a treatable form
Ovarian cancer isn’t typically discovered until it’s already spread to other organs, by which time chemotherapy is ineffective, but researchers think they know how to revert metastatic cells back to a treatable form
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Figure 1: Formation of mesenchymal cancer cells, the highly invasive cells that mobilise and spread cancer to other areas of the body. Figure 2: Mesenchymal cells treated with the negative control in the experiment. Figure 3: Mesenchymal cells after being treated with miR-429 – they look more like primary tumor cells |
Researchers at the Ovarian Cancer Institute Laboratory have discovered that miR-428 – a regulatory RNA – may be able to induce metastatic cancer cells back into a non-invasive form that could be treated with chemotherapy.
“Primary tumours are rarely fatal,” said John F. McDonald, chief research scientist. “Most cancer patients succumb because the cancer metastasises, and current chemotherapies are not designed to kill metastasising cancer cells.”
Cancer cells exist in two forms: the primary tumour consists of rapidly dividing epithelial cells that are immobile and stick together. Cells at the edge often turn into mesenchymal cells which lose their adhesiveness and become highly mobile, allowing the cancer to spread to other areas of the body.
McDonald treated both types of cell with miR-429 to see if it could turn the mesenchymal cells back into epithelial cells.
“We found that when we introduced miR-429 into the highly metastatic ovarian cancer cells, they became less invasive, less migratory and more like the cancer cells associated with primary tumours,” said McDonald.
The lab – based at the Georgia Institute of Technology – is currently testing to see if mesenchymal cells treated with miR-429 are more susceptible to chemotherapy than metastasising cells that haven’t been changed back to epithelial cells.
“We are hopeful that we have found an effective way to drive metastasising ovarian cells back to their primary cancer stage where they can be more effectively treated with existing chemotherapies,” McDonald said.
