Molecular switch may prevent metastases

PHILADELPHIA, March 17 (UPI) -- U.S. medical scientists say they have identified a genetic master switch that might prevent cancer cells from metastasizing.

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researchers said the switch is a protein that, when in the "on" position, maintains the normal character of cells that line the surface of organs and body cavities. But when the switch is turned "off" or is absent, epithelial cells acquire characteristics of another cell type, called mesenchymal cells, thereby gaining the ability to migrate and move from the primary tumor.

The scientists said understanding how the switch works might lead to a drug that controls cancer cell metastasis and tissue fibrosis -- a hallmark of organ failure, as in liver cirrhosis or kidney failure.

The research by Assistant Professor Russ Carstens, Associate Professor John Hogenesch and graduate student Claude Warzecha appears in the journal Molecular Cell.