No matter how far stepped modern medicine, still remain diseases that are poorly treatable. Therefore, fighting them out in the first place. One of these horrible diseases is cancer. And recently a group of scientists from the University of Wisconsin in Madison have discovered a way to prevent the development of metastases in cancer.
About new scholarly work MedicalXpress reports the edition with reference to the Journal of Cell Biology. According to a press release, experts have discovered a protein Munc13-4, which stimulates the secretion of exosomes by cancer cells. Exosomes are microscopic extracellular vesicles with a diameter of 30 to 100 nanometers, secreted in the intercellular space. Cavity exosomes contain specific proteins, RNA and lipids. In actsoma secreted by cancer cells, among other things, are factors that stimulate tumor growth. Exosomes can transport oncogenes in neighboring cells, reinforcing their division. They also carry proteins that make tissues around the tumor vulnerable to the germination of cancer cells. Plus they secrete factors that suppress the activity of the immune system.
Scientists at the University of Wisconsin learned that calcium (which is very much in the majority of the growing tumors) stimulates the secretion of exosomes. And responsible for this above-mentioned calcium-binding protein Munc13-4 in conjunction with another protein Rab11. The suppression of the activity of these proteins or the replacement of one of the genes on the “broken” copy does not allow the cancer cell to absorb calcium. And therefore to distinguish exosomes, which in turn prevents the formation of metastasis and stopping tumor growth.
Found a way to avoid metastases of particularly dangerous types of cancer
Vladimir Kuznetsov