LA JOLLA, Calif., Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Scientists at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research in California say they've discovered reactive oxygen plays a key role in cancer metastasis.
The researchers, led by Professor Sara Courtneidge, said they determined reactive species, such as superoxide and hydrogen peroxide, help form invadopodia -- cellular protrusions implicated in cancer cell migration. They found inhibiting reactive oxygen reduces invadopodia formation, thereby limiting cancer cell invasion.
"Reactive oxygen has a complex cellular role," Courtneidge said. "Normal cells use reactive oxygen to signal, grow and move. Immune cells, such as neutrophils, produce reactive oxygen to destroy bacteria. Now we find that reactive oxygen is necessary for invadopodia formation, which allows cancer cells to become metastatic."
Courtneidge said invadopodia facilitate cancer cell migration by breaking down the extracellular matrix that normally keeps cells in place.
Using invadopodia-rich mouse fibrosarcoma cells, Courtneidge and her colleagues tested a number of antioxidants and found both a marked reduction in invadopodia formation and invasive behavior. The scientists repeated the experiments with human melanoma, head and neck and breast cancer cell lines and also saw a marked reduction in invadopodia formation.
The scientists said their findings might lead to new cancer drug interventions.
The study appears in the Sept. 15 issue of the journal Science Signaling.
