• Breast cancer: Why metastasis spreads to

    From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Thursday, April 21, 2022 22:30:46
    Breast cancer: Why metastasis spreads to the bone

    Date:
    April 21, 2022
    Source:
    Universite' de Gene`ve
    Summary:
    When cancer cells break away from a primary tumor and migrate
    to other organs, this is called 'metastatic cancer.' The organs
    affected by these metastases, however, depend in part on their
    tissue of origin. In the case of breast cancer, they usually form
    in the bones.



    FULL STORY ==========================================================================
    When cancer cells break away from a primary tumor and migrate to other
    organs, this is called "metastatic cancer." The organs affected by these metastases, however, depend in part on their tissue of origin. In the
    case of breast cancer, they usually form in the bones. In an attempt to identify what determines the organs affected by metastasis, a team from
    the University of Geneva (UNIGE), in collaboration with researchers from
    ETH Zurich, has identified a protein involved in this phenomenon. This discovery could lead to the development of therapeutic approaches
    to suppress metastasis. This work can be read in the journal Nature Communications.


    ==========================================================================
    From the primary site of a tumor, cancer cells can invade their microenvironment and then circulate via blood and lymphatic vessels to
    distant healthy tissue to form metastases. In the case of metastatic
    breast cancer, the cancer cells primarily colonize the bones, but can
    also be found in other organs such as the liver, lungs or brain.

    Plasticity of tumor cells Although the molecular and cellular mechanisms responsible for the different stages of the metastatic process are
    not yet fully understood, studies show that cellular plasticity plays
    an important role. This term refers to the ability of cells to change
    function and/or form. Thus, tumor cells that become metastatic change
    their shape and become mobile.

    The laboratory of Professor Didier Picard of the Department of Molecular
    and Cellular Biology at the Faculty of Science is interested in the
    mechanisms that govern the metastatic processes related to breast
    cancer. His group collaborated with Professor Nicolas Aceto's group at
    ETHZ to study these processes in mice. The biologists investigated the potential role of the protein ZEB1, known to increase cell plasticity,
    in breast cancer cell migration.

    ''Unlike in women, mice transplanted with human breast cancer cells
    develop metastasis to the lungs, not the bones,'' says Nastaran Mohammadi Ghahhari, researcher in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology
    and first author of the study. ''We therefore sought to identify factors capable of inducing metastasis in bone tissue and in particular tested
    the effect of the factor ZEB1,'' continues Nastaran Mohammadi Ghahhari.

    Directing metastasis to bone In in vitro migration and invasion
    experiments, the scientists found that cancer cells expressing ZEB1 moved
    to bone tissue, unlike cancer cells that did not express it. These results
    were later confirmed when human breast cancer cells were transplanted into
    the mammary glands of mice. If the cancer cells did not express ZEB1, metastasis occured primarily in the lungs. In contrast, when ZEB1 was
    present, metastases also developed in the bones, as is the case in women.

    ''We can therefore assume that this factor is expressed during tumor
    formation and that it directs cells that have acquired metastatic characteristics to the bones,'' explains Didier Picard, the study's
    last author. This study confirms the importance of the plasticity of
    tumor cells during the metastatic process and could allow, in the long
    term, to consider new therapeutic approaches to prevent the appearance
    of metastases.


    ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Universite'_de_Gene`ve. Note:
    Content may be edited for style and length.


    ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
    1. Nastaran Mohammadi Ghahhari, Magdalena K. Sznurkowska, Nicolas Hulo,
    Lilia Bernasconi, Nicola Aceto, Didier Picard. Cooperative
    interaction between ERa and the EMT-inducer ZEB1 reprograms breast
    cancer cells for bone metastasis. Nature Communications, 2022; 13
    (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467- 022-29723-5 ==========================================================================

    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220421141615.htm

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